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I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a screen sript from my 4th book ( Hunted: The Last Resort) and have until the 10th of August, 2013 to have it ready for review. Then I can get back on my new novel ( A sequel to: A Sea of Glass)'

Hi Ellen,
Forgive the long delay in answering your note. I worked with more than my share of technical manuals when I worked for the Boeing Airplane Company, doing Depot Level maintenance on the K-135 Aerial Refueling Aircraft, writing manufacturing plans for the various shops and reviewing the actual maintenance manuals for the various models of aircraft we dealt with. I was astounded to find out (the hard way by being chewed on by an Air Force general)the manuals were written on a 7th grade level of education.
But to get to writing dialogue--one of the Creative Writing courses I took in college created characters and their dialogue. We took a name and built a character around it and used the 4 'W's: Who the character is, What the story is about, Where the story took place, When the story took place and How the character sounds when he/she talks. My 3rd book took place after the Civil War was over(WHEN) (The Long Road Back), When people were not really educated, especially in Tennesee and West Virginia. The main character was from Texas and not fully educated. One of the characters was a 14 year old boy in Tennessee with no real education, so his dialogue was 'butchered' to resemble HOW people really talked back then. I recorded the dialogue portions of the book and played it back a number of times and placed myself in Jodie's shoes as a 14 year old boy(WHO). It takes time and practice to get the dialogue in the right perspective to match the characters. That's one of the reasons many actors have dialogue coaches, to teach them to talk like the characters they are portraying. Writers basically have to do the same thing, by reading the dialogue aloud in front of a mirror or family members or friends. You can even involve them to read the dialogue of different characters. We did that in Creative Writing in WHAT we called 'Dramatic Reading' and it gave us a better understanding of HOW the characters should talk. The dialogue has to fit the characters in order for the story to flow. I hope this helps you and look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Alex

I've been to New Orleans but it was a medical trip. I love to read science fiction and am presently writing one about the Emerald Planet. It includes dragons, vampires of a sort (use energy from others not blood) and a planet that was used for mining but had hidden cities.

I wrote technical manuals for computer programs and when I retired I taught Yoga, Pilates and Water classes. Now, I want to write. My husband supports the idea but I need a maid! We have 3 acres of plants, grass and a pool.

I will look for your creations! It is going to be awhile before I get anything up there. I have about 50 pages and dialogue doesn't seem to be my strong suite. :)

Have a great day!

Thanks! Looking forward to reading some of your stuff!

Thank you and it looks like a fun site to be in.

Welcome to the BookRix community - have fun!