Writing Dialogue

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Tom Chiarella, Story Press
Publisher:	Story Press Books
Release date:	01 February, 1998
List price:	~~$14.99~~
Our price:	$10.19 that is 32% off!

Writing Dialogue

Average rating: Stars

Ready For a Spanking From the Headmaster?

Chiarella looks so far down his nose you'd think he was Pinocchio. Some good ideas buried pretty deeply in the bloated monologue. I learned very little I didn't already learn from more general books on writing that had a single chapter on dialogue.

The man curses some very four letter words and brags about how he did it as a kid. He says to listen to others for book ideas. He hasn't a clue about modern block-busters we want to write. I have about twenty books on writing, and no good one on dialog yet.

The author is indeed high in his ivory tower looking down on his ignorant students. He is a teacher, not an author. He has written a book of short stories (no reprints is my guess) and several short stories for various magazines. Come on, this is the lowest rung of professional writers.

Boo for Chiarella and Boo to Story Press.

Writing Dialogue - Tom Chiarella, Story Press

Good Workout for the Creative Mind

Having spent more than a third of a century writing non-fiction--55 business books--coming out of retirement to write my first novel, I thought, would be easy. Wrong! What a shock. Going from under 10% dialogue to more than 50% was no small barrier to hurdle. ##### Some would say, if the shoe doesn't fit don't wear it. O.K. Good logic. But the problem, I found, was not insurmountable. And, Chiarella is quite right: fictional dialogue and conversational dialogue are worlds apart, and his book zeros in admirably on the differences. ##### In the final analysis, though, I feel close study of early 20th century classics is the best way to learn the proper use of dialogue: The Great Gatsby, 1925, Fitzgerald's lyrical use of prose, incorporating free-flow dialogue so seamlessly, is a good example. And, for crisp, hammerlike-impact speech the earthy utterances as presented in James M. Cane's The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1934, and the gritty, survalist tone of the words spoken in his Double Indemnity, 1935, I think, illustrate my point. Then there is Nabakov's Lolita, 1947, to study for the eloquent, multi-layered emotonal landscape it lays out and the dialogue that echos this. ##### In sum, I found Chiarella's "take" on dialogue to be most interesting--as a "spur" to reach further for answers, in all, a good "kick-off" platform.

Tom Chiarella, Story Press - Writing Dialogue

The struggle of writing dialog.

Writing is my passion. Dialog is my pain. This book does not contain a secret magical formula for writing good dialog. It does provide exposure to writing techniques regarding dialog, and the ideas and techniques presented are invaluable. If you, like me, struggle with dialog, I highly reccomend reading and then studying this short book. For me, this book opened new doors into my creative process and my writing has benefited significantly.

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