And yes, that’s precisely how one describes personal preference, but it’s my and I’m going to stand on it. There are authors I won’t read before because it’s always ::line of dialogue::a page of introspection::line of dialogue::another page of backstory::line of dialgoue and soon you’re ten pages into the book and only five seconds have passed in the book’s timeline. Personally, I’d rather have talking heads! But again, that’s me. Like Carly, I often have to go back into my scenes and layer in more introspection and movement and etc to avoid “talking heads.” It is about finding a balance.

And, unfortunately, I don’t think it’s as easy as looking at books by your favorite writers and counting up paragraphs between lines of dialogue and comparing it to your own. Because “too much” doesn’t necessarily mean line numbers or word count. It’s just a feeling that they get. Maybe because the conversation is complex or hard to follow. Maybe because the wording of the dialogue is too vague to work unless it’s shot-gun style. For instance,

“Are you meeting us later?” asked Julie.
“You bet,” Diana replied.

Works just fine. But if you add some introspection, it might get a bit confusing:

“Are you meeting us later?” asked Julie.
It would be silly to turn down an invitations for drinks with the Plotmonkeys. After all, Diana had always heard what a great margarita-mixer Julie was. Still, it had been ages since she’d had her roots done, and since her stylist had closed down his salon, she’d had a horrible time getting a hair appointment. Given her booksigning tomorrow, Diana figured it would be a good idea to look her best. “It depends,” she said. “What time will you be at the bar?”

See how a simple “you bet!” wouldn’t work there?

As for the comments…well, all comments might not be right on. It’s all subjective. Take an extra look and if you think your dialogue flows, then leave it as is. If another judge at another time says the same thing, then look at it again. If not, move on. It’s a matter of taste, sometimes, and you as the writer have to decide what works for you and what doesn’t.

The judges comments on my use of dialogue confused me. I almost asked this yesterday but didn’t want to get off topic, especially if you were going to be covering it as some point. The judge who took so much time made the comment that I had too much information placed in between my dialogue. That I needed to leave that out and let the reader just enjoy the conversation.

So I pulled some of your and Janelle’s books, to see how you guys handle that, and I didn’t have much more explanatory stuff in there than you guys do. And at the very beginning, I’m not sure how to pull off just dialogue, because there has to be some explanation as to what they’re talking about. Doesn’t there? If I try to include the information in the actual dialogue then it doesn’t sound natural. :wallbash:

Could you do a Saturday on dialogue, please. And again, thank you so much for doing these. They really help, more than you probably realize. Thanks!!!

I do think that one restart is good when you’re first starting out and learning about big things like conflict. I also think you’re right that you need to see this manuscript through now to the end. I learned so much simply from the act of finishing a book. A lot of aspiring writers never get that far. Keep it up! And if you have any suggestions for future topics for the Saturday blog, let me know!

You’re explanation made a lot of sense. After getting the TARA comments back I’ve pretty much started all over from scratch. Both judges, along with my CP (who I hooked up with after entering the contest) said my conflict needed to be stronger. So, in order to do that, I’ve had to basically start all over and I was just curious about whether or not it made sense to do that or just scrap the book and start a new one. I think, personally though, I need to see this book through to the finish so I guess starting over is the way for me to go.

On a side note, one of the judges from the TARA contest was extremely kind and generous with her time. She wrote a second note on lined paper (about 4 pages) with additional comments and explanations and suggestions on how to make the story better. Her comments were absolutely priceless!! Thank you for letting us know about the contest, it was one of the best things I could have done!

Julie, I had a queston yesterday, I just couldn’t remember what it was and it hit me this morning. I know you’re in the middle of editing so if you don’t have a chance to answer (or not for a while) that’s OK. I read on Romance Divas where you said you completely rewrote a book from scratch. But I didn’t really understand why you did that. Can you explain? Is that the one you were saying that it was a great concept you just didn’t have the skill originally to pull it off, but now you do?

I’ve rewritten two books from scratch (DIRTY LITTLE LIES was one, but I kept about 1/4 of the original manuscript), but I think you’re referencing my upcoming PHANTOM PLEASURES. Yes, it was a great concept that I originally wrote in 1994 and just didn’t have the skill to originally pull off. Plus, that book was written specifically for the then category line, Silhouette Shadows. Those books had a very gothic feel, very dark, and I didn’t want that entirely for this book. I loved the setting, the characters (though names changed) and the beginnings of the worldbuilding, but now that the book was going to be a single title, I needed much more.

I added a gypsy curse, gave the hero brothers, and introduced a whole secondary storyline that didn’t exist at all in the original.

I didn’t want to be tempted to try and revise any of my old manuscript, so I never even looked at it. I’m glad I didn’t. My voice has changed so much since then. Anyway, it’s just an example that sometimes, it’s better to let go of old manuscripts and then hopefully, recycle the ideas later.

No problem. I do get carried away ask anyone here.

Hugs