Dialogue

Here's a useful tip for my fellow fiction writers, one you probably already know, but let's share it anyway. You never know when you might learn something.

Tip:

Don't dump information on the reader through dialogue. It causes your dialogue to feel sophomoric—forced and unnatural.

Example:

Mary walked into the living room and tossed her keys to her son. "Danny, you can take my black Toyota Camry. But don't wreck it. And I expect you to be home by ten o'clock tonight. And stay away from Mark, the preacher's son. He's a troublemaker."

Here's an improvement:

Mary walked into the living room and tossed her keys to her son. "Danny, you can take my car, but don't wreck it. I expect you to be home by ten o'clock. And stay away from Mark. He's a troublemaker."

Granted, my example won't win any prizes for cleverness, but you get the idea. Put yourself in your character's place. Basically, if the character your character is talking to already knows the information, don't include it. Danny obviously knows the color and make of his mom's car. Undoubtedly, he also knows that Mark is the preacher's son. Find some other way of weaving that information into the story, if it's pertinent.

And while we're on dialogue, take the time to read it out loud. When you think you've got it right, take the next step and read it to your spouse, best friend or, ideally, a critique partner. If you're really brave (or masochistic) have that person read it while you listen.

When Do You Write?

A fellow blogger and writer, Roxanne Sherwood, posted a fantastic entry about writing when you're away from the computer.
I "write" in the shower, while cleaning the kitchen, and while doing laundry. My favorite place to mentally write is in the grocery store. Be forewarned, this can sometimes trigger strange looks from fellow shoppers. When that happens, I realize (too late, of course) that I'm muttering a dialogue sequence under my breath. But you absolutely must read dialogue aloud to make sure it sounds natural and has the correct rhythm. So looking like a crazy lady is the price you pay for writing while shopping, I suppose.
The point is that you should write, even when you're not at your desk, fingers on the keyboard.
If you'd like a great list of ideas for when you can ponder your current work in progress, Roxanne provides it in her blog post, A Time to Ponder. Check it out, and you might realize you have more writing time available than you first realized.