Skip to main content

There really is a science to writing fiction


There’s good news for writers and readers alike. Award-winning author John Hough, Jr., has compiled a new “how-to” book on writing dialogue, The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Dialogue: A Fresh Look at an Essential Ingredient of the Craft, recently published by Allworth Press. 

I was fortunate to meet John at a writing conference in Massachusetts a few years ago and benefited from his editorial services during the publication of my current novel and thriller Wiggle Room. John tells me that the new The Fiction Writer’s Guide to Dialogue is a fun read for readers as well as writers. According to reviewer Jack Shea, Hough’s writing guide magnifies the magic of literature for readers, connecting them to the requirements of good fiction and explaining that readers must be willing to suspend disbelief. For a fiction author like me, whose other profession is rooted deeply in science, John Hough’s new book provides an easy to follow guide regarding the function of fictional dialogue and how it drives the plot. If you would like to read the complete Shea review, here’s the link: http://www.mvtimes.com/2015/03/11/dissecting-dialogue-john-hough-jr/ .

My friend John Hough, Jr., is the author of six novels. Shortly after first meeting and beginning to work with John as an editor, I was engrossed in his historical novel, Seen the Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg, winner of the 2010 W.Y. Boyd Award for excellence in military fiction from the American Library Association. Although written from the perspective of the Union army, the reader feels such deep empathy with the characters and their cause during the Civil War that even a modern-day Johnny Reb could turn.

I encourage everyone to check-out John Hough’s new 143-page guide to writing dialogue in fiction now available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-Writers-Guide-Dialogue-Ingredient/dp/1621534391/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428891680&sr=1-1&keywords=john+hough%2C+jr.

-----Darden North
       www.dardennorth.com

Comments

Marni said…
Thanks for this great tip. I will forward it on to the writing group I mentor~

Popular posts from this blog

From the Other Side

The new year 2016 brought a special gift to me, the "opportunity" to be on the other side of the healthcare delivery system--the care receiver rather than the caregiver. Fortunately, I am blessed that my surgery went well. I only missed just over week of work, and a full recovery is expected. During those days away from my ob/gyn career, I spent time at home recuperating and was feed well by family and friends. The surgery had been scheduled long before the Ole Miss Rebels finished a stellar football season, and since my wonderful physician is not an Ole Miss fan he did not mind skipping our second trip to the Sugar Bowl in over 40 years. Fully alert, status-post anesthetic trance and requiring minimal post-op pain meds on the evening of January 1, I watched Ole Miss trounce Oklahoma State on a fairly large, widescreen TV from the comfort of my den couch. However, I missed being in New Orleans with my friends at the Superdome in what they described as great seats in an obvi...

Great video teleconference with intriguing book club

As an author I love to visit book clubs. Recently by video teleconference, I was the honored guest of the Yarn Spinners Book Club of Ackerman, Mississippi. Friend and member Frances Coleman tells me that the club grew from a group of women who like to knit and crochet. They soon found themselves talking about books and decided to devote one meeting each month to having a book club. The program is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Extension Service - Chocktaw County.  Last year the Yarn Spinners read and discussed my newest novel, "Wiggle Room," but in 2015 my second novel, "Points of Origin," a national IPPY award-winner in Southern Fiction, was the focus of intention. Pictured separately  via Skype and Facetime  are the guest novelist and the Yarn Spinners group with guests. The club shared with me the 23 discussion questions it considered including such concepts as what was the central conflict of the novel’s plot, how does one ...

BLOG JOG DAY

Thanks for stopping by Recent Musings on www.dardennorth.com . While here, please explore my website which includes the book trailer for my third novel Fresh Frozen . When you're ready, jog on over to http://www.thegoldenpathway.blogspot.com/ . If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com . Enjoy! Darden North