Customer Reviews

Writing Realistic Dialogue and Flash Fiction

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While working on the great American novel, I have been reading many how-to books on writing fiction, but none had helped me with the heart of the story - realisic dialogue. Until, that is, I came upon Mr. Stanbrough's primer at a writer's conference. I laughed. I cried. Then my writing transformed with this simple realization: you can lose your reader in narration (horrors), but even weak dialogue will invite her deeper into the story line, becoming an eavesdropper intent on turning the page to find out what tidbit will said next. (Whew, saved!) With dry wit and a gentle but insistent manner, the author takes you by the hand through such topics as 'Conveying Emotion,' 'Influencing the Mood of the Reader,' 'Writing Naked,'(Yeah, now that's a topic!) 'The subtleties of Implication,' 'Mechanics of Punctuation,' 'Action Verbs and Mental Movies'....and the list goes on. And the cool thing is, he makes sure you get it! This primer is filled with examples and exercises that WILL improve your dialogue writing skills. Weak dialogue? Not anymore. Using these techniques, I just had my first article published in a national publication. Buy it! It'll be the best 10 bucks you spend on your craft.

"Writing Realistic Dialogue & Flash Fiction" was very helpful in that the book teaches how to write realistic dialogue that will not only impact the reader's emotions, but shows how to use punctuation to move the reader along. Most authors who write "help books" don't seem to realize that new writers don't have a clue as to how writing fiction differs from formal writing. Harvey Stanbrough understands this and makes it easy for new authors to grab onto the differences!

Mr. Stanbrough produces reference books that are not only informative but are easy to read. Too many books for writers are boring, ramblng, and are just "more of the same". Here are clear examples that allow the reader/writer to easily see how the information should be used in her/his own writing.

I bought the book based on the reviews on the Amazon but was disappointed by the content of the book. The examples on the book are very limited and the author keeps referring his another book for further discussion. Since the book is short and the author uses his own short stories as examples, it is hard to learn the depth of writing a realistic dialogue and I found myself getting more from other editing books such as "The First Five Pages."

This one is full of helpful info.
Also, I recommend his punctuation for writers book.
If you aren't sure how to properly use semi-colons or colons, it'll fill you in.
This author is easy to understand and knowledgable.