Writing Discussion 2

[kriadydragon]

Including descriptions of characters' actions in dialogue scenes - how much is too much, and how much is not enough? You don't want it to just be a long string of "he said/she said", but you don't want to describe every eyebrow twitch, either ...

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

I don't care for all description but I don't care for nothing but dialog either. It tends to leave too much of what is happening to the reader's imagination.
A bit of that is fine, but not where I am forced to try to figure out what
a character is seeing and feeling about the situation....
BTW, I am struggling to develop more dialog, because I realize my writing has been largely POV and narrative driven......
Thanks so much for posting this dilemma.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

My own rule of thumb when I don't know when to work in dialog is two things - when I need to emphasize something of importance and to bring narrative that's covering the passage of a certain amount of time into the present (Ex. they swam, they ate, they got back into the car. "So, have a good time?")