Tut, Tut, looks like rain

One of the writer's in my critique group posed a question the other day. She was having trouble with character dialogue.All of her characters sound the same. She said, If it's going to rain, wouldn't the character just say that.  "It's going to rain. Or it's raining". No matter who they were.


The answer of course is...bzzzz... wrong.  If every character had the same way of phrasing something, there would be no character at all. Here are a few examples.

"Tut, Tut, looks like rain"- Winnie-the -Pooh



"The nicest thing about rain is that it always stops. Eventually." - Eeyore



"There's a storm blowin' up - a whopper, to speak in the vernacular of the peasantry" Professor Marvel, Wizard of OZ



"My breasts can always tell when its going to rain" Karen on Mean Girls



You get my drift. Characters are interesting and memorable because they have interesting and memorable things to say. A person is 3 dimensional, with a past and personality that colors their word choice.

Here's an exercise. Your character needs to say they're hungry.

Pooh would say "I've got a rumbly in my tumbly."

How would a colonist from space say it?

A Farmer?

An 11 yr old?

Have fun and be creative!!

E is for Exercise

Ok, so exercise is not one of my favorite things per se. But I sure love the benefits. Exercise has not only whittled away 75 pounds of chunk, but it's helped balance my brain chemistry making the antidepressants I've been on for the last 15 years unnecessary. My other blog, Finished Being Fat, is devoted to tips and tricks I've learned and am still learning.

Exercise is also necessary for a writer's soul too. I know I break out in a sweat doing all these blog posts. Or plotting my main character's trials and tensions. Exercise in any form helps us to grow. To reach beyond our current capabilities.

Here's one of my favorite writing exercises. Pick 10 people and write one sentence describing what makes them odd, unique, or interesting. After your done, you should have a sentence that would make someone want to know more about that person.

Example: My friend Amy developed a fear of water after falling in the toilet at age 5.

What's your example?