The one that taught about talking
Book: Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
Version: Paperback – Primarily because this was one of my very first craftbooks, and thus I bought it before ebooks existed.
Description: The title is pretty self-explanatory. The book breaks down dialogue into the elements that work and don’t work. It covers everything from dialects to dialogue tags, to rhythm, to tension.
When I use: This is the book that really taught me how to stop writing stilted conversations and move over to more natural, tension filled conversations. It really was a game changer. I don’t use it as much anymore, but I still use the exercises, especially the five-word-only conversations (Chapter 4: Compression). Nothing gets things moving on the page better than forcing a conversation down to the bare bones!