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I got a question in my e-mail not too long ago on how to do dialogue. As far as I've ever been able to tell, writing good dialogue comes from being able to hear voices in your head that aren't there---which in times past has been enough to get you burned at the stake or drowned at a dunking post, and which currently, if you admit to it in the wrong company, can get you a quiet room with rubber walls and all the free Thorazine you can swallow. Never let it be said that writing well is not without its risks. That said, I need to tell you that dialogue in a story is NOT about two people talking to each other. That's what it is, but it isn't what it's about.

A lot of fiction by beginning writers, and unfortunately a significant amount of fiction by published writers, is plagued by paper people – characters who never really come to life on the page. The published writers who still get away with this do so because they’ve learned to tell a story so compelling that editors will buy from them anyway. Beginners really don’t have that luxury, and paper people will kill a sale as fast as anything. Paper people fall into categories – and that is much of their problem. You have Evil Villains, Oppressed Virginal Heroines, Naïve-But-Stalwart Heroes, and Smart-Ass Sidekicks, among other common types. (Depending on genre, you’ll meet Hookers-With-Hearts-of-Gold, Strong-But-Silent Sheriffs, Nubile-Young-Secretaries-Who-Always-Think-They’re-Too-Thin, Brilliant-But-Distracted Scientists, Ever-Dedicated Cops, and the inescapable Fearless Soldiers.) You recognize them as I list them, and can probably name as many novels where they feature prominently as I can.

Harry Potter for Adults

Digital Quill Fiction with Flai - General Archive with Harry Potter, Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Various Fandoms, and Original.

Dark Eden Press was founded by three women who were frustrated at not being able to find enough reading material that went beyond mainstream romance and into the realm of what society called ‘taboo’.