Hey all! Sorry I haven't written in a while, I just got back from a family vacation! No, not the Family Vacation--thank God!So there's a lot of writing advice out there, yeah? On fiction, non, poetry, characters, plot, planning, dialogue, setting...there's writing advice for everything. And the thing is...a lot of those people who give the advice think they are 100% RIGHT.
Alas, not every person out there giving writing advice is right. Actually, there's a lot of writing advice out there that I 100% disagree with.
Especially when it comes to dialogue. Sure, there's some things that shouldn't be done (according to some people)...I get that...but what if I want to do it that way?
There's a lot about avoiding clichés when writing dialogue. But guess what?
People...REAL people use clichés all the time in their REAL dialogue. If we don't have those characters who sound like real people...what are we doing? Don't we want to make our novels/characters/dialogue as believable and realistic as possible? Don't we?
If we do...listen. Listen to those around you and how they speak. There's a lot of people who use cliché phrases...it's common. Don't overuse it in your writing, but don't cut it out either. I think it's a mistake. Using common phrases and dialogue that everyday real people use won't make you or your writing common.
But also don't be afraid to change it up. Mix the phrases up--the words, combine two or three--real people also do that in real dialogue.
So before you completely take advice about avoiding certain things in your writing...just think for a moment. Ask yourself if it's something people will find/hear everyday. If so, don't automatically get rid of it.
But some of the most important things to remember: Test advice and find what works for you. Find your style. Find what you enjoy. Take advice and mold it!
Hopefully this was a bit helpful!
God Bless!
Rachel
