Writing Excuses 5.20: More Dialog Exercises

Published: Jan. 17, 2011, 1 a.m.

b'The rules: Write dialog with no dialog tags and no narration. Write it in such a way that we get character, conflict, and setting. We did this a few weeks ago, and have more examples from you, our daring, sharing listeners!
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\\nWe ran waaay long this time, but it\'s okay because we spent a bunch of time reading the submissions. After each reading we discuss what went right and what went wrong, and what to learn from it.
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\\nLots of principles come out of this, including avoiding Maid-and-Butler dialog, how to write natural banter, how to establish a character with that character\'s voice, and how dialog-only, "white-room" pieces just can\'t tell certain types of stories effectively.
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\\nAudiobook Pick-of-the-Week: Empire of the East, by Fred Saberhagen, narrated by Raymond Todd
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\\nWriting Prompt: Brandon decided to read the first two paragraphs of Empire of the East to us, because it\'s all dialog and seemed to fit.
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\\nSpecial Guest Appearance: Howard\'s pants. We haven\'t heard from them in almost a month. They\'re back.
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