What’s that you say?

By Jean Wilson

I’d like to share some more of what I’ve learned from my Advanced Fiction Writing Courses, started this Spring, ending this late Fall. I’m new at writing and recently learned a book, article, whatever, should have these components: Act I                                   Act II                               Act III Hook                                  Crisis                                Plan Backstory                         Struggle                              Climax Trigger                                Epiphany                          Ending

What is hardest for me is writing dialogue and letting the characters tell the story. My instructor, Steve Alcorn, a published author himself, has been told by some publishers, “Face it! Today, most readers want a fast read.” I see now that dialogue gets the reader’s interest, gets things moving, and keeps your story from sagging in the middle.

It also: 1) creates a great hook 2) creates your characters 3) condenses long passages of a back story 4) it shows instead of tells the story and 5) is useful to inject humor. Keep writing, and let us new writers get over the fear of using lots of dialogue. I finally am!