BY NANCY KAY CLARK
In a recent CANSCAIP kids-lit seminar, author and teacher Uma Krishnaswami had this to say about dialogue:
1. It’s not real-life speech (in real life, we repeat ourselves and hardly ever speak in complete sentences);
2. It’s not meant to serve you (the writer);
3. It shouldn’t be used to deliver plot or backstory;
4. Or for long-winded explanations.
It should convey:
1. Each character’s unique voice;
2. What the characters don’t say or are hiding;
3. The interplay and relationships between characters — who prevails, who defers, who interrupts, who listens, who doesn’t, who talks non-stop, who can’t get a word in.
Contributor News
Janet Garber’s recent publications include “How I Became an Instant Grandmother,” Family Story Project; “The Bite,” Jack Walker Press Friends Anthology; and “The French Lover’s Wife (excerpt),” Finalist, Sunspot Literary Contest
Christopher Woods’ short play The Tetons just came online in Another Chicago Magazine. https://anotherchicagomagazine.net/2020/11/19/the-tetons-by-christopher-woods/
