O is for Oh. Em. Gee.

When I was younger, the only abbreviation I remember using was PHAT. But that was before cell phones, and texting. Now, there is a whole new language out there full of LOLs, OMGs, IDKs, and a plethora of others. And they aren't just restricted to text messages, emails, Facebook and instant messaging. People use them in everyday speech too.

As writers, we can't know which speech pattern trends are fleeting and which are here to stay. And since a manuscript can take years to write, edit, and publish, anything we write using trendy dialogue might be completely obsolete by the time the story goes to print. I sure can't imagine taking a contemporary YA novel seriously where guys were referred to as "scrubs" and people asked each other if they were ready to "dip" when they wanted to leave. Will teenagers in ten years feel the same way about OMG?

Personally, I avoid slang altogether. Just like I avoid referencing specific band names or song titles which could just as easily date my story. But, does that make the dialogue less realistic? Or does it matter, as long as it's neutral? I figure, dated dialogue would be much worse than dialogue which doesn't seem to be related to a particular era (unless I'm going for a particular era of course ;) ).

What do you think? Do you use slang in your writing? Do you have a way of deciding how much slang/which words make the cut and which don't?

D is for Dialogue

Public critiquing sites have opened my eyes to a whole mess of common dialogue issues we writers have. I thought I'd share the most common mistakes (ones I'm also guilty of making) and how to fix them:

Example 1:
Wrong:
"That's so funny," she laughed.
A person can not "laugh" a sentence (or sigh it) - they say it.

Corrected:
"That's so funny," she said, laughing.

Example 2:
Wrong:
"Hello there Sally." He said.

There are three things wrong with this (other than the actual content itself).

1) Whenever another character is being addressed, a comman needs to be placed before their name.
2) If the dialogue has a tag, it shouldn't end in a period. It should end in a comma (or possibly an exclamation mark - although this sort of punctuation should be used sparingly).
3) "He said" should not be capitalized.

Corrected:
"Hello there, Sally," he said.

Example 3:
Wrong:
Jane folded her arms across her chest.
"What's your problem?" she asked.
"You know what my problem is."

So, who said what? Describing character action is a great way to avoid using dialogue tags (sometimes they get overwhelming), but the action needs to be in the same line as the dialogue so that the reader knows who is talking.

Corrected:
Jane folded her arms across her chest. "What's your problem?" she asked.
"You know what my problem is."

Example 4:
Wrong:
"That dress was made for you," the salesman cajoled.

This isn't technically "wrong", but as a reader, it is a pet peeve of mine. When done correctly, dialogue tags should be invisible. This doesn't mean that a writer can't deviate from the standard "said", but tags which draw attention to themselves should generally be avoided. And anyways, isn't it always better to show whatever it is you wanted to convey through the tag anyways?

Corrected:
"That dress was made for you," the salesman said.

Want to know more about writing dialogue? Check out Janice Hardy's blog for lots of great posts on the topic.

What dialogue issues have you struggled with or come across while critiquing?