Activities which I consider mundane – cooking, folding the laundry, exercising – are like medicine and tend to go down easier with a spoonful of sugar. The sugar I gravitate to is easy to watch films, usually in the comedy vein.
My go to favorites are: “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Office Space”, “Twins” and “Tropic Thunder”. I’ve probably watched each of these films a dozen times, and I’m still never bored. When breaking down what I like about the films, I can say that they all have great casting, a fun story, fantastic music (seriously, go back and listen to the score for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), and witty dialogue that never gets old.
When writing dialogue for my novels, I always ask myself: Is this conversation engaging? Would a reader enjoy it enough to want to read the passage again? Is each character response unique and individual?
In my first pass, I never edit the conversation. I let the characters banter until they reach their natural conclusion. Then hard work starts – whittling the elements down so the pacing is tight. Even though novels have the freedom to run longer, I keep the old screenplay adage in mind: Jump in late and get out early.
On that note, happy writing everyone!