I've not seen a whole book on dialogue that I thought was worthwhile but the relevant chapter in Francine Prose's "Reading Like A Writer" is worth a look. She uses classic novels, particularly Henry Green's, to illustrate her points.
To be honest, I think the two best things you can do are reading really good examples of other writers' dialogue (try Evelyn Waugh's "Decline and Fall", Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" and, er, pretty much anything by Judy Blume) and eavesdropping on other people's conversations. After that, you have to read your dialogue out loud, much as you probably read out everything else, and listen for clangers and anything that sounds implausible. It helps if you really, really know your characters and their motivations. I.e. why are they saying what they are? Do they have any verbal tics? What are they not saying? And, of course, you need to trust your readers to fill in the blanks left by what is not said.
Sorry if that's not the answer you were looking for. I shall also wait to see if anyone has any great books to suggest.
I wish I was as well ordered and prepared, as Adrian is, but I'm not.
Here is a link to Author MARK SENNEN who seemingly has the same problem.
And his solution is again the old and well beaten Mantra:
"Writing is the only way to get across the line. You are a writer, aren’t you? So write."
http://www.writing.ie/guest-blogs/permission-not-to-plan/
Louise, thank you.
I ordered two dialogue books on Amazon.
Writing Dialogue - Chiarella, Tom
How To Write Dialogue In Fiction - Weinman, Irving
I'll let you know if they're any good.
I've not seen a whole book on dialogue that I thought was worthwhile but the relevant chapter in Francine Prose's "Reading Like A Writer" is worth a look. She uses classic novels, particularly Henry Green's, to illustrate her points.
To be honest, I think the two best things you can do are reading really good examples of other writers' dialogue (try Evelyn Waugh's "Decline and Fall", Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" and, er, pretty much anything by Judy Blume) and eavesdropping on other people's conversations. After that, you have to read your dialogue out loud, much as you probably read out everything else, and listen for clangers and anything that sounds implausible. It helps if you really, really know your characters and their motivations. I.e. why are they saying what they are? Do they have any verbal tics? What are they not saying? And, of course, you need to trust your readers to fill in the blanks left by what is not said.
Sorry if that's not the answer you were looking for. I shall also wait to see if anyone has any great books to suggest.