the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee sh

A few months ago, I purchased a book from my local bookstore and took it home to read. It wasn’t written by any of my favorite authors, which gave me misgivings from the beginning, but like any good writer, I know how important diversity can be. So I gave it a shot.

Unfortunately, I only got about fifteen pages into the book before I put it down. It’s sitting on my bookcase right now without the tell-tale crease in the binding because of one seemingly small detail that I simply couldn’t get past: dialogue.

The author wrote her dialogue as though she were transcripting actual conversations between herself and her friends. She included banal phrases such as, “What’s up?” and “Not much, how ‘bout you?” It was boring, stilted and nothing like what good dialogue should be written.

Most new writers make the misinformed assumption that dialogue should sound like real people talking. It shouldn’t. Dialogue serves a purpose, as do action and prose, and is a mechanism for furthering the story. If what your characters say to one another has nothing to do with the plot or the storyline, cut it. Simple as that.

To illustrate my point, let’s compare dialogue with action. Action is arguably the most important element to any novel because it sets the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee sho

nto the book before I put it down. It’s sitting on my bookcase right now without the tell-tale crease in the binding because of one seemingly small detail that I simply couldn’t get past: dialogue.

The author wrote her dialogue as though she were transcripting actual conversations between herself and her friends. She included banal phrases such as, “What’s up?” and “Not much, how ‘bout you?” It was boring, stilted and nothing like what good dialogue should be written.

Most new writers make the misinformed assumption that dialogue should sound like real people talking. It shouldn’t. Dialogue serves a purpose, as do action and prose, and is a mechanism for furthering the story. If what your characters say to one another has nothing to do with the plot or the storyline, cut it. Simple as that.

To illustrate my point, let’s compare dialogue with action. Action is arguably the most important element to any novel because it sets the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee sh

She included banal phrases such as, “What’s up?” and “Not much, how ‘bout you?” It was boring, stilted and nothing like what good dialogue should be written.

Most new writers make the misinformed assumption that dialogue should sound like real people talking. It shouldn’t. Dialogue serves a purpose, as do action and prose, and is a mechanism for furthering the story. If what your characters say to one another has nothing to do with the plot or the storyline, cut it. Simple as that.

To illustrate my point, let’s compare dialogue with action. Action is arguably the most important element to any novel because it sets the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee sh

action and prose, and is a mechanism for furthering the story. If what your characters say to one another has nothing to do with the plot or the storyline, cut it. Simple as that.

To illustrate my point, let’s compare dialogue with action. Action is arguably the most important element to any novel because it sets the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee sh

the pace for the entire story. Without action, a novel is simply a conversation…or poetry. And just like dialogue, it serves to further the plot of your novel.

But let’s say that you pick up a book and read the first five pages. During that time, the main character – we’ll call her Sandra – goes to the coffee shop, the dry cleaner’s, the library and the grocery store. She picks up her mail and prepares a light dinner. Then she watches some TV, listens to music, feeds her pet rabbit and goes to bed.

What happened? Quite a bit, judging by Sandra’s busy day, but absolutely nothing that would be of interest to the reader.

We spend our lives running errands, making dinner and feeding our pets. We participate in activities such as listening to music and watching TV. But when we read a book, we don’t want to think about the mundane activities of our daily lives; we want to be transported into an exciting, moving and enthralling fictional world.

Now, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about dialogue. Think about the last conversation you had, be it with your wife, your husband, your children or the customer service representative at your phone company. Think about how that conversation very carefully, and imagine what it would be like to read it on paper.

Boring, right? Unless your last conversation involved a nasty break-up or news of a murder three blocks from your home, it wasn’t novel-worthy. And even if it was about a nasty break-up, the um’s, uh’s, curses and stutters would be left out of the dialogue in a romance no