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Writing Prompt: Dialogue During the Pandemic

24 Apr
Shakespeare The Complete Works

Image from Hoopladigital.com

Dialogue for me has been one of the toughest parts of writing.  I’ve admired friends over the years who could write plays with funny and natural interaction between characters with ease.  For me one of the things that has helped me in writing dialogue is to pay attention to examples I specifically find compelling.  Of course, Shakespeare is the master of dialogue, but I have to give a shout out to my favorite play Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, which gives a modern take on the classic characters from Hamlet.  The trick to good dialogue is that it should be natural to the ear even without the starts and stops and filler words that often dot our actual speech.

Dialogue itself should primarily be used to convey the mood and tone of the character, rather than a description of how they are saying it.  One thing I’ve heard time and time again when I’m in fiction workshops from instructors is the recommendation to not overly describe how a character is saying something every time, they utter a phrase; it doesn’t have to be yelled loudly or whispered or chortled or gasped.  Using that more sparingly allows for those times it is noted to have more of an impact and keep you from sounding like you are consulting a thesaurus every time your character opens their mouth.

It is an interesting time to be thinking about dialogue since we are interacting less overall with others verbally due to social distancing.  I find myself much more aware when I am talking to someone at a store or at a Zoom meeting than I would have in the past simply being at the reference desk and having multiple interactions with many people on a daily basis.  Try writing a scene that you could include in a fictional piece, memoir, or play about an interaction with a store clerk and shopper.  How do physical barriers and distances affect the way you/they interact?   How do masks change words said now that facial cues are not as notable?  Do interactions now feel more or less genuine?  Have the words we used changed?  What could you create in a story from this short encounter that would work to develop and propel it a long?

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Head of Reference

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Writing Inspiration: Animal Inspired Children’s Stories

17 Apr


For the past few Friday writing prompts, I’ve had suggestions for memoir, fiction, and poetry, but today I thought it would be fun to consider something that could be used for a children’s book.

There is one member of our household who is truly loving the stay at home order, our cat, Pixel. He has been taking the opportunity to get extra pets, though he isn’t so crazy that I’m spending a lot of my time in his favorite desk chair. For me and my son, who is homeschooling, this is a dramatic change from our daily routine, but for Pixel the house is his whole world. The staircase railing is his balance beam, a fly is in an invading enemy who must be destroyed, our bow window is where he watches live musical performances by song birds.

Think about your own furry, feathered, or finned pet; what might their daily life look like in your imagination? What funny antics could be transformed into a story? Which of their distinctive behaviors make you smile? Would your anthropomorphized pet have a signature look such as a beret or a paisley tie? Would your polydactyl kitty be the world’s best baseball player? Could your canary win a singing competition? Let your imagination run wild. If you have your own children, then have them come up with ideas with you. Those artistically inclined might want to sketch out some illustrations. If you don’t have a pet, instead consider the wildlife out your window such as pigeons or squirrels.

Maybe your fur baby can join Splat, Mittens, or the legendary Pete in the pantheon of critters who have captured kid’s hearts!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Head of Reference

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