Can You Hear Me How?

I love the way the Brits say "Jaguar."Or maybe there's just something about an accent (and a nice suit). Either way, this commercial got me thinking about dialogue and the way characters speak. I know when I'm writing dialogue, I hear each character speak in a certain way and try and put that on the page. This has been a challenge with the characters in my current project, The Whirlwomen Trilogy. The characters are from different regions, eras, cultures (and possibly more) and I try and keep those distinctions present through their speech.

I maintain these distinctions in various ways. For instance, my time travelers from ancient Ebla do not use contractions. This gives their dialogue a formal tone. Conversely, the budding mage from N'awlins has a relaxed way of speaking littered with contractions--some of which he makes up on the fly. The time leap involved in the story also offers a convenient way to give characters distinct voices through their word choice. Just think how the English language has been influenced over the years due to technological and sociological shifts. Better yet, google it.

Accents, however, are a little more difficult to convey aside from including them in the character description. Spelling variations sometimes work-- "I love the sneekah bah!"(Snicker bar). But they can also be hit or miss, or worse, considered a typo. If I'm going to use a spelling variation, I make sure it is an effective one. Oftentimes, my editor disagrees.

Dialogue sets characters apart. It can also show how a character is acclimating to a new environment through subtle changes in lexicon. Write precise dialogue and each characters will have a unique voice bringing them that much closer to stepping off of the page.

Success Sticking Like Glitter

I’ve had an amazing year. I finished the first fantasy fiction novel of a trilogy; started my own business slavetradepublishing.com and on a more personal note found a more personal connection with my Lord and Savior. Two-thousand twelve is totally unwritten (except for "Flung";-). Everything is upside-down and although there are similarities from the past here and there, the future is new and Golden.

I’m two chapters deep into the rewrite that will go to the editor who I hope will whip "Flung" from the best I can do, to the best it can be. Yes, I’m behind. But I have some funding to come up with to pay said editor so maybe my timing is universally perfect.

I talked to my dear friend and mentor the other day who is bi-coastal chillin’—as I aspire to be—and was reminded that we attract and are attracted to what is available to us. And everything is available to us.

My path is different than anyone else’s. But I know what I want; what it looks like; what if feels like; what it tastes like. It's not entirely up to me, but I can use my God-given "abilities" to create my highest good. Faith will take up the slack.

-30-

If you write, you know how good typing --30-- is. It means you've finished a manuscript of some sort be it a book, a screenplay, a pilot....I recently typed that on "Flung" the first book in the Whirlwomen Trilogy (out 1/2012) and my first novel-length foray into fantasy fiction. In fact, I finished the book about the same time Steve Jobs made his transition (R.I.P genius). One minute I was jumping on the beds of my hotel room like a seven-year-old, the next I was crying on the edge of it after hearing the news about Jobs on the BBC.

For the next 24 hours, I was more obsessed with reading about Jobs and catching snippets of his speeches on the news, than reveling in the fact that I'd finished another book. I inundated myself, with the help of the rest of the Mac loving world, with Jobs' quotes on creativity, management, the consumer, life and, yes, daydreamed that through some magical mishap I'd be a beneficiary of a small part of Jobs' fortune which reminded me that, unlike Jobs, I had yet to see any substantial fruits of my labor.

I turned my attention back to my new creation with Stewi in my head saying: "You know you're just procrastinating because the real work has yet to be done. I'd bet Bryan's book is better than yours." And that evil little laugh.

A finished book, is not a finished book until its been read and re-written so many times that if you're in a busy deli and they call out "174!" you think "that's the page where the shape-shifter stuck in the form of a rat realizes his soul's been snatched" AND you discovered you morphed his name into something different than what's on page 82. You may also remember that means your sandwich is up.

The mourning is over and that process is underway. It's almost as exciting as finishing, especially when I read through bits of it that actually shut that infernal Stewi/editor in my head up and make the corners of my mouth curl north. "Hey!" I think "Maybe one genius had to go to make room for another," then I LOL until I have to go and pee. Then its back to the Mac.