: Re: Dialog, just what's the best way to write it? I've come across the following conventions: "Whatâ€™s this for?" asked Jake. Sue replied, "None of your business." He shrugged his shoulders.

I like a mix of dialog tags and action tags. You should definitely break up paragraphs of speech with stage business and action tags.

Dean Wesley Smith had an advice piece for writers which I ran across for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and I don't have it to hand, but the one bit which stuck with me is "The word 'said' is invisible. Use it." He thought that one should never use bookisms like asserted, insisted, sighed, etc. but I like those used judiciously. And reading back over my own work in chunks, he's right: said is really invisible. It just doesn't register, any more than the word "the" does.

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: "Turn exposition into ammunition" is shorthand for a writing technique. A quick Google turns up this article: http://michellelipton.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/mckee-on-exposition/ Money quote: â€œConvert

@Debbie451

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: Editors: Edit on first read, or read and edit on second round? I edit novels (among other works). I was having a discussion with someone (not an editor) who didn't understand my technique.

@Debbie451

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: How can you build an interactive tone into articles? I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one

@Debbie451

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: You are hitting an interesting question here. I am a native French speaker and I struggled with the same issue when I learnt English. My English writing used to reflect my French upbringing.

: Re: Dialog, just what's the best way to write it? I've come across the following conventions: "Whatâ€™s this for?" asked Jake. Sue replied, "None of your business." He shrugged his shoulders.

More posts by @Debbie451

: "Turn exposition into ammunition" is shorthand for a writing technique. A quick Google turns up this article: http://michellelipton.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/mckee-on-exposition/ Money quote: â€œConvert

: Editors: Edit on first read, or read and edit on second round? I edit novels (among other works). I was having a discussion with someone (not an editor) who didn't understand my technique.

: How can you build an interactive tone into articles? I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one

: You are hitting an interesting question here. I am a native French speaker and I struggled with the same issue when I learnt English. My English writing used to reflect my French upbringing.

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