John Whitman's Blog
April 6, 2023
How Smart Should The Author Assume We Are?
What do you think about subtle v. obvious dialogue?
I like dialogue to drive a story forward without being too expository. I want characters to speak as real people would speak, not by adding phrases inserted only to help the reader, such as "Hello again, Matt from my old neighborhood in New Jersey. Why, I haven't seen you in two months." I'd rather learn these details along the way.
Now, the very BEST writing does this smoothly, of course. But my question to other readers is this: in a scene where the writing might not be the best, or where the action demands terse dialogue that can't be explained right away, would you rather have subtler, more realistic dialogue that will be explained later, or would you rather have a fact stated immediately so you don't have to worry about it?
I like dialogue to drive a story forward without being too expository. I want characters to speak as real people would speak, not by adding phrases inserted only to help the reader, such as "Hello again, Matt from my old neighborhood in New Jersey. Why, I haven't seen you in two months." I'd rather learn these details along the way.
Now, the very BEST writing does this smoothly, of course. But my question to other readers is this: in a scene where the writing might not be the best, or where the action demands terse dialogue that can't be explained right away, would you rather have subtler, more realistic dialogue that will be explained later, or would you rather have a fact stated immediately so you don't have to worry about it?
March 29, 2023
Disunion!
My most recent book is out, and I'd love to get some feedback! It's a military sci-fi novel called Disunion: Book One - The Mantiz Gambit.
The Mantiz Gambit
We're also giving away 100 eBooks. Check out the link below:
The Mantiz Gambit
We're also giving away 100 eBooks. Check out the link below:
