Saturday, April 23, 2011

Let me count the ways...

I joined an on-line critique group. The upside has been some incredibly helpful advice about Point of View and pacing. Not so helpful was the reader who wanted me to add a tag after every line of dialogue.

Think...

"Hello," said Eden.

"Hi," Romy said.

"How are you?" Eden asked.

"Fine thanks," Romy replied. "And you."

"Just fine," Eden said.

See Spot sit. Sit Spot sit.

Having ten people offer comments on the same 250 words has been enlightening. Some love my descriptions. Some suggest I use too many adjectives. This reading and writing thing is subjective.

2 comments:

  1. How many people are talking? Is it just two, or are there more? If there are more than two, you do need to add tags more often, OR some kind of action.

    Romy sneezed. "Why do you have to bring your stupid cat everywhere? I don't care if he is trained to walk on a leash."

    In any critique group, you start to learn who's got valuable critique, and who's got... silly stuff. However, what you might want to take from that is that this reader (who does, after all, represent potential audience/buyers) is getting confused as to who is speaking, and how you can address that.

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  2. Beverly -

    Color me me ungrateful. Perhaps I shouldn't write posts after six hours in front of a computer screen.

    I deeply appreciate the time and effort that go into any critique. That said, the dialogue in question occured between two people and lasted only a few lines.

    Happy Easter.

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