So obviously it wasn't REALLY the Return of Me last time I wrote in here.
But it is now. 😉
I am being forced to find another job and it's making me cranky and upset. But, it also made me decide to stop F-ing around and actually get to REAL WORK on this novel thing. If you've been keeping up with this journal, you are probably shaking your head and laughing right now. I know. How many times have I said this, right?
Well.
I enrolled in "12 Weeks to a First Draft" from Writer's Digest University. I have also signed up for NaNoWriMo.
It's ON!!! Long story short, feedback from the instructor of the workshop, Stephen Murtz, has been really positive for Cheetah on the Roof. This is really, really, really just… EXCELLENT. That first day I got feedback from him and he said he loved the basic premise of the novel, he might as well have told me he was an agent and publisher and going to give me a twelve book deal. That's how excited I was. Because it was my first REAL, professional feedback on ANY of my original ideas. So it was definitely a landmark.
The second round of feedback was good as well. He suggested I work on more introductory character description. A good point. I have logged the suggestion in the "to revise" folder.
The third round of feedback was that I was a very good writer (another HUGE SQUEE!!) but that I needed to use Clara's name less and cut out many of dialogue tags and change them to simply "he/she/it said" or leave them out altogether, as the dialogue should speak for itself. Which I completely understand. And I believe him.
But at the same time… sometimes… I really like dialogue tags. Dialogue tags are the descriptives after someone says something, aka, "grumbled/snapped/whispered" etc. Or "assured" or "informed" instead of just saying "said." Yes, you can usually tell how something was said via context and choice of words, but sometimes that tag just gives it that extra OOMPH. However, Mr. Murtz was saying that can be distracting, and as such take away from your great story. That makes sense. I have usually experienced that distraction personally, however, when an author uses "said" too often. As long as it's not just "said", I don't usually notice if the tags are overused. Maybe because they're not used in published fiction? I need to start paying attention!!! But I DO know I have read books before where it's just like SAID SAID SAID SAID and it drives me nuts. 😛
What is your opinion on the matter? Have you become annoyed by too many or too little dialogue tags?
All great advice though, and this workshop is just absolutely priceless. I am sooooooooo thrilled to be taking part in it!!!!! ^_^ I have also found an AMAZING writing software called Scrivener which is absolutely PRICELESS when it comes to organizing a large novel length document and then putting it all together and REFORMATTING it for publication! It's amazing!! Very excited about that find as well. In fact if you write… fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenplays (there are modes for each!) – you just need to go get it now!!!
And with that, I'm off to input my CotR outline into Scrivener. 😉 Later gator!
Congratulations & Dialog tags
Congratulations on the good review!
I just took a quick look at one of the best books I’ve read recently, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. The author writes excellent dialog, which flows very naturally. She uses quite a few dialogue tags, and sometimes omits both tags & “said”. Tags do help to convey the speaker’s emotion, and I think in many instances they add insight to the character’s feelings.
Re: Congratulations & Dialog tags
Thanks for the input! 🙂 I will start paying more attention when I read!
This debate bugs me. I’ve never found dialogue tags ‘distracting’, so I’ve never been sure if it’s fair to call it a general rule, or if it’s a matter of taste. What I find distracting is anything repetitive or to excess. As such, ‘he/she said’ ad infinitum can be just as bad as overwrought descriptor tags.
I also think that it comes from a certain… school of writing. I’ve read some books where I’ve been amazed at how bland and emotionless the characters are (I’m looking at you, Banks). There seems to be a notion somewhere that people shouldn’t emote because it’s too messy (or feminine) or something.
I dunno. I can’t imagine not being allowed to give a tonal shift to a character’s dialogue when I want to. Can there be too much? Absolutely. But it’s too valuable a tool to me to give up.
I think it’s a matter of overuse. I have noticed an overuse in some fanfics before, but never really noticed in any novel. I think if you aren’t noticing as a reader, that means the use of dialogue tags is natural and nonobtrusive. In this particular assignment, I probably overused them. I’m not sure I had a single “said” in there! Now that I’m more aware of them, I’ve realized they really aren’t all that necessary, since the tone can usually be conveyed by body language or the words themselves. However, I still like to use them every now and then, and don’t plan to stop unless someday they stand in the way of being published. 😉 But I think as long as they aren’t just stuck in everywhere it’s not a huge issue! So I agree, too many tags or “saids” can be annoying, but a sprinkling of them is yummy! 😀