This week's workshop is getting back to basics again - dialogue. Dictionaries define it as having two or more persons conversing, but in fiction we can probably be a little more liberal in our definition. It could be verbal outbursts of a sole character with no others present, sign language, or instance messages. You may even consider psychic communications to be dialogue within science fiction, paranormal and fantasy genres. Any time a character attempts a language-based communication, whether or not there is someone to receive that communication, we'd probably consider it dialogue. Most of the time, it's speaking. Let's discuss how dialogue can best serve our stories.

This week I've got a few great resources for indie authors, and a tip for getting your avatar displaying on more sites.

Until today, I'd not experienced one of the moments of awareness I've read about on other author's blogs. The culmination of events which lead them to realize what their drive is, why they write, and the perspective they can offer the rest of the world.

Two of the first things we are told as writers is to immerse readers in our fictional world and to keep our writing tightly paced to maintain their interest. Providing description enhances immersion, but if you just dump it in your pacing will suffer. Let's talk about how we can have it all.