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...

Was the Experiment a Success?

I recently conducted a little experiment in book marketing, placing an ad on FaceBook promoting the release of my three mystery/medical thriller novels as eBooks. The materials utilized for the experiment were no more than my laptop, a little electricity, a high speed cable Internet connection, and a credit card --- as well as some spare time that I did not have. (Perhaps I should have spent the minutes moving past page 100 of my work–in–progress, a fourth novel tentatively titled Wiggle Room .) The results of my non-scientific experiment are detailed in this essay and presented in the guise of a blog entry on my author’s website. While it is meant primarily to interest other authors or maybe publishers, I hope the piece is clever enough for my book fans as well. I was intrigued when author Jeffrey Marks recently reported his own experience with advertising on FaceBook, publishing an article and follow-up piece in the Mystery Writers of America newsletter. I decided to see for myself...

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