photo by A Yancy Overby and Associates
EXCERPT from "Talking about Dialogue" by Natalie Duvall in Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction
I’ve long known that good dialogue can sell a manuscript. It is the hook that catches a reader and then keeps them reading. Dialogue is what makes a character real. It’s what makes him believable. Good dialogue can overcome bad prose.
Unfortunately for you, the writer, readers are experts on dialogue. An author from Chicago who writes a book about a woman from New Orleans better be careful. Because there are many people from New Orleans. And there are many more who have been to New Orleans. The world has thousands of experts on the vocal stylings of people from the Big Easy, and they expect you to be one, too.
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Natalie Duvall lives in a big old house in a little town in Central Pennsylvania. She enjoys walking as much as possible. Unless it's cold out. She is married to Matt Duvall and has cats (three of them -- Albert, Chun Lee and Eliot). During the day she's an 11th grade English teacher. At night, she writes Regency-set historical romances. In what free time is left, she trains in Krav Maga and is a lackadaisical triathlete. Visit her online at http://www.natalieduvall.com.
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