ONLINE CLASS

The Power of Dialogue in Fiction

Use dialogue as a creative tool to further story and reveal character


INSTRUCTOR

Tiffany Yates Martin

DATE

Live on May 3, or watch recording

IDEAL FOR

Novelists who want to improve their dialogue

ACCESSIBILITY

Closed captions by Otter; transcript provided with recording


Most of us speak anywhere from 7,000 words a day or more. We use dialogue to communicate everything from desires and demands to intentions, thoughts, and feelings. We make small talk and offer idle musings. And yet what’s second nature in our everyday lives can suddenly feel awkward and foreign when putting words in our characters’ mouths in a fictional story.

Dialogue can make or break any story—it’s a key component of creating fully fleshed characters, developing relationships and narrative arcs, furthering the plot, weaving in backstory and context, creating suspense and tension, and more. What a character says can be as important and revealing as what a character does.

But when used unskillfully, dialogue can slow momentum and make characters feel all the same or boring.

In this live, online class, professional editor Tiffany Yates Martin will explore dialogue as a creative tool to reveal and flesh out your characters. She’ll show how it’s an essential element of craft in developing and furthering story, plus review the technical side of dialogue issues.

You will learn how to:

  • Create “story dialogue”—natural versus “real”
  • Use dialogue to further the story and reveal character and relationships
  • Balance dialogue and narrative to paint a scene fully
  • Reveal character through what they say and do not say (subtexts, undercurrents, lies, obfuscation), and what they say versus what they mean
  • Master inner dialogue without stalling pace or pulling readers out of the story—and how it differs from dialogue
  • Handle dialect
  • Consider the use of dialogue tags: whether, when, and how to use them, plus other ways to identify the speaker, tone, or intention
  • Format for dialogue, including paragraphing and length considerations

After class, students will also receive supplementary PDF handouts on analyzing dialogue.

Who should take this class

  • Authors writing long-form fiction
  • Authors who struggle with making characters sound different and distinct
  • Authors who aren’t sure how to balance dialogue with narrative
  • Authors who want to improve their skills in using dialogue to develop the story, characters, and relationships

This class is not suited for

  • Nonfiction writers of any kind
  • Short story writers (there may be some benefit, but examples and assumptions will be novel driven)
  • Picture book writers

What’s included in all of Jane’s classes

How do I attend the live class?

This class uses Zoom webinar technology (see system requirements). You will join through your Internet-connected computer or mobile device. When you register, you will receive information via email on how to join the class. If you don’t receive it within 1 hour of registering, please contact us.

  • When: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
  • Time: 1:00–2:30 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
  • Fee: $25

The webinar is broadcast via the internet with live audio delivered through your computer or mobile device speakers. The visual presentation is displayed directly from the presenter’s computer to your computer screen. The Q&A is managed through a chat-style submission system with questions read and answered by the presenter for the entire class to hear.

Closed captions are provided during the live class. We use Zoom’s automated closed caption service (powered by Otter), which is about 80%+ accurate. We also use Otter AI to generate an unedited transcript, provided with the recording.

About the instructor

Tiffany Yates Martin has spent nearly thirty years as an editor in the publishing industry, working with major publishers and New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling and award-winning authors as well as indie and newer writers, and is the author of the Amazon bestseller Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing. She’s led workshops and seminars for conferences and writers’ groups across the country and is a frequent contributor to writers’ sites and publications. Under the pen name Phoebe Fox, she’s the author of six novels, including her most recent release, The Way We Weren’t (Berkley/PRH).

Everything was clear and concise from Tiffany. Not a moment was wasted, which made all the learning fun and interesting. I also loved the examples shared. I’m a new fan!

Terri T.

Awesome job with the webinar. It was great—specific and to the point. And the examples worked really well. Made it super real and obvious how to do it subtly versus with the proverbial sledgehammer.

Lainey C.

Hands-down best course I’ve taken. Thank you.

Marian P.

All students receive the following

  • Access to the live class. After roughly 75 minutes, the instructor will take questions during class using in-class chat/text. The class will end after roughly 90 minutes.
  • A recording of the class—audio and video. This is especially helpful if you have a conflict with the class time or something comes up and you can’t make the session. Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for 30 days. You do not have to attend the live event to access the recordings.
  • Presentation slides. All participants receive a copy of the slide presentation in PDF form.
  • Rough transcript. We use Otter to create an automated transcript of the entire webinar, which we’ll share with you in addition to the audio and video recording.
  • Supplementary handouts. You’ll receive a handouts on dialogue guidelines, analyzing dialogue, and dialogue analysis examples.

Event Attendance & Anti-Harassment Policy

We strive to provide an environment where all present—whether attendee, presenter, or staff—can feel supported. In order to ensure a welcoming event, here is what we expect from all who participate.

  • That the presenter and the presenter’s work be treated with respect by attendees and that all attendees treat each other with respect and a generosity of spirit.
  • That attendees will refrain from harassment of any sort including (but not limited to) comments or questions of a racist, homophobic, sexist/sexual, or threatening nature. This includes actions that disrupt or interfere with anyone’s ability to participate. Offenders will be disconnected from the live event.