More hints on dialogue. It isn't just so the character chat. It should move the story forward and be relevant to the plot. It should have a purpose in what is taking place.
When writing dialogue ask yourself what purpose it serves and make sure it is connected to the story and not just fluff. Not just filler. Dialogue can be used to show where a character is driven. It can tell a reader their motivations and where the story is headed. Dialogue is a good place for the character to display fears and obstacles. Dialogue should definitely show the reader what is at stake...the risks involved. It is important that dialogue sounds like normal speech....but not your speech. Yes you have a voice in the story but each of your characters should have their own dialogue styles so readers easily recognize them. Sometimes dialogue can be the character speaking to try and figure things out. It helps to weave conflict and fear into the dialogue to help support the plot. Now some things to think about. I have encouraged a couple of times now that all the Adverbs in a story be removed. Adverbs are most often leading to passive writing and we want active writing. But Adverbs don't have to be removed from dialogue...we use thought when talking and it's common to do so. But over use can't be good either. So as I am searching my manuscript for Adverbs I do leave them in dialogue. And always read your dialogue out loud. Especially the exchanged between characters. It will help you identify where things don't sound natural.
