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Friday, March 18, 2011

The Power of Words

Son #1 loves to babble yet. His vocabulary is growing with each day but he still says a lot of made up words. Two nights ago, when we're were telling him that we love him before putting him down in his bed for the night, he finally said those three little words back.

"I love you."

It came out more like "I lub u" but it completely melted my heart.


Now how does this relate to writing?
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We should strive to make each line of dialogue to have impact. It doesn't always have to be life-altering, but it should have meaning. It should also be unique onto that character - i.e. each line should only have been said by that character, no one else should have/could have said it. This goes to voice. If each character has been written to be unique and has a unique enough voice, their dialogue would be their own, dependent upon their character. If they have an accent, it would give their words flavor. If they have little education, they wouldn't use proper English all the time. Etc...
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Now if only he would say "I love you, Mommy" I would be a puddle on the floor.
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9 comments:

  1. Amie BorstMarch 18, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    nice post! i'm working on a YA right now with a male MC....it's so hard to make him sound authentic...and also unique and not like the other male characters in the book.

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  2. Nicki ElsonMarch 18, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    Oh he'll say it! That is the sweetest story. One of my favorite parts of writing is the dialogue---almost becomes like acting, getting into the character's heads and thinking of how they'd say it.

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  3. Talli RolandMarch 18, 2011 at 1:23 PM

    Aw! I love this, Nicole.

    And what a great connection to writing!

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  4. StinaMarch 18, 2011 at 1:57 PM

    Awww, this is so sweet. And hearing those words as they get older doesn't get any less sweeter. :D

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  5. AngieMarch 18, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    Oh, that does melt your heart, doesn't it? How sweet.

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  6. Theresa MilsteinMarch 18, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    Your little one will get there!

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  7. LTMMarch 18, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    but that's his voice! For now at least. Great post, and i love the analogy. Thanks, Nicole~ :o) <3

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  8. The Words CrafterMarch 18, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    Oh, those are magical words! And the wonder of the first time will never leave you.

    Great tie in, too.

    Have a great weekend!

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  9. Janice SeagravesMarch 19, 2011 at 7:17 PM

    I remember my daughter when she first learned to say those three little words. I still love to hear them from her and she's nineteen now.

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The more comments, the better!