Sunday, October 15, 2006

Basics to Create Dynamic Characters - Lesson 3

Showing Your Characters With Natural and Believable Dialogue
This is a part of what I wrote for the assignment.


Pressing the spoon against the side of the mug, Annie scooped the teabag out again and, pushing the flip lid down with her free hand, dropped it into the bin. The teabag caught the lid and slid down, leaving a trail of leaves.

"At least it didn't fall on the floor," she shrugged.

Annie carried her drink into the front room and curled up on the sofa. She gazed into the mug and swirled the tea round, watching black specks floating on the top. They started to sink.

"It'll taste fine, and I get to tell my own fortune at the end of it." She chuckled to herself, "it'll probably say I talk to myself too much!"

Cupping the mug in her hands she sipped her tea until it was nearly gone. The moment she felt a leaf in her mouth she stopped. "Right, I'm sure I've read this in Harry Potter, you're supposed to turn the teacup over on a saucer, then read what's left behind."

Not having a saucer she glanced around to find somewhere she could pour the rest of the tea. She looked at the bedraggled spider plant sitting on the table and slowly smiled. "I'm sure tea is good for plants, it's practically compost." She swirled the tea left in her mug and poured it on to the plant. She peered into the mug, "Isn't this part where I see a tall, dark, handsome stranger taking me on a long sea voyage and selling my body for lots of camels? Hmm...maybe not." She turned the mug round to see if that made more sense. It didn't.

"Well, I guess that could be a letter...maybe that's his initial...then again, maybe I'm just day-dreaming too much again. Get a grip." She shook her head, chuckling, "and stop talking to yourself!"

2 comments:

Rand said...

Dialogue is so engaging. I need to write more of it.

So let's see. Yes, this dialogue definitely paints a picture but I'm unsure of the intent. She seems a little neurotic, talking to herself but maybe thats your intention. Perhaps a mixture of thoughts and spoken words?

Just ideas. Great job with this. Looking forward to more.

Feena said...

Thanks :-)

I'm not meaning for her to seem neurotic, she's just like me - I talk outloud to myself all the time...

*thinks*

Does this mean I'm neurotic?? *lol*

I think when she does talk to herself it'll normally be just in her head!!