Writing Dialogue

Writing Dialogue has convinced me that even experienced writers should massage their technique by frequently reading a good book by an expert-preferably someone who teaches at a credible university like author Tom Chiarella. Like a good rubdown refreshes cranky old bones, such a habit will rejuvenate perspective and technique. For beginners it will work like essential balm, teach what even careful reading sometimes fails to disclose.

The reason that I am so sure of this is that I had occasion to spruce up an excerpt from my first novel This is the Place. Connie Gotsch, host of a literary program on KSJE, a radio station that caters to classical music lovers in the four corners area, asked me to read from both my books. It reminded me of the days when the whole world tuned into drama a la The Haunting Hour and Fibber McGee and Molly.I decided the chapter should be trimmed so it would entertain in the same way that these programs had in the Golden Age of Radio.

I had just read Writing Dialogue and was surprised at how many changes I made in my already published dialogue as I was trimming the except. Before reading it, I was convinced that it wouldn't teach me much. I've studied long and hard, done my homework. That turned out to be hubris. The changes I made were subtle to be sure, a kind of tweaking that would not have been possible without Chiarella's insight.

Chiarella covers everything from grammar and the punctuation of dialogue to listening. He is most valuable, however, when he dissects dialogue and paints pictures of whole new ways to hear it, then to write it. He even includes tips like having characters interrupt themselves, back up and repeat and suggests ways this can be used to better characterization.

Writers should not borrow this book from the library. It will be better read, dog tagged, underlined and sitting on their desks where they can reach for a kind of writing-massage on a moment's notice.

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson will teach at UCLA's Writers' Program in the fall of 2004. She is the author of two award winning books, THIS IS THE PLACE, and HARKENING. Her work in progress is THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T.)


Excellent reference!   April 16, 2001
Ve (USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I got this book in a set... These two books, Writing Dialogue and Creating Character Emotions can be sold as a set, or singly. It is well worth having both, so please, buy the set!

The first book: Writing Dialogue, by Tom Chiarella, discusses listening and the importance of jotting. There are excellent examples, and challenging exercises that really drive the point. During the first chapter, I had already begun to dog-ear my pages!

Writing Dialogue is nearly a writing course with a cover. It describes just how important the meaning is of each word in a dialogue situation, how important silence is, and what holds it all together. After reading this book and trying some of the exercises suggested, I realized exactly what Tom Chiarella was trying to teach. The first exercise alone was quite difficult, but very exciting to go back and review the out come of it. A+ book!

The second book in this set: Creating Character Emotions, by Ann Hood, is an amazing tutorial on how to make your readers FEEL what the character is feeling. This book is arranged so that nearly each chapter is a different emotion. Examples are displayed in a bad vs. good approach. I really like to see the bad example first because when you read the good example you can really tell the difference.

Some of the emotions covered in Creating Character Emotions are: anger, anxiety, confusion, gratitude, curiosity, fear, sadness, desire, grief, and there are so many more. If you have ever felt it...it is covered in this book. Another A+ book!


This is good instruction on dialogue   August 11, 2001
Charon (Indiana)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

I have purchased and read perhaps two dozen of the books on writing linked through the Amazon and bookfinder searches. Mr. Chiarella's book on dialogue gave me more help in its niche that any of the others. It is clear, to the point, and worth buying and reading. There are other more comprehensive treatments such as Janet Burroway's or E.M. Forster's. I enjoyed David Lodge's , The Art of Fiction. Some may even read Greek and like to start with Aristotle's Poetics. But for good understanding of dialogue, Mr. Chiarella has given us a sound, brief treatment easily worth the price.