Looking back, I think I was an overly ambitious and confident writer (I hope I wasn’t arrogant). And I trusted that I would succeed by focussing almost solely on quality. But I was wrong because successful writing depends on a combination of writing and marketing. I still believe in quality writing. It’s central to my…
Month: August 2021
What is subtext?
A previous post on writing dialogue with purpose is critical information, but it’s still just a small part of writing good and realistic dialogue overall. A line packed with purpose, for example, could still be a poor line if it lacks subtext. I’ll show what subtext is and explain why subtext is important to dialogue. …
The importance of objectivity in writing and education.
Some of you may enjoy Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey, and Harry Potter, but they aren’t better than anything Hemingway, Camus, or Proust has written. It’s not my intention to start something controversial here. I just want to stress the importance of objectivity in writing and education, and this seemed like a good place to…
What is the purpose of dialogue?
Every line of dialogue must serve a purpose. This instruction was something that I mentioned in my introductory post on the subject, How to write realistic dialogue? I half-dismissed it because every line of your writing – not only conversations between characters – must serve a purpose, but now I want to explore that point…