Wednesday links: Dialogue and the polarization of authors

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few. Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past week.

1. Get Rid of On-the-Nose Dialogue, from Helping Writers Become Authors: As writers, we tend to hear a lot of advice about showing instead of telling in relation to character’s actions. But it’s just as important to make sure your characters aren’t telling too much in their dialogue. Excerpt: “When I pick up a potential read and skim through its opening paragraphs to discover whether or not the book will pique my interest, one of the first things I look at is the dialogue. If it’s on the nose, I’m outta there.”

2. Polarization of Authors?, from Pub Rants: Unfortunately, there tends to be a lot of division among traditionally published authors and independently published authors. But both paths have their merits, and it’s important to choose the one that fits you best. Excerpt: “I sense a widening division between authors who traditionally publish and authors who self-publish. And there’s no need for that. This is not an either/or question, nor is there only one right path to publication.”