Writing dialogue (#5 in the series of “classic posts” on writing)…

If you’re an avid reader (I read more than I write, if you can believe it), you know there are certain things that slow you down. One is what a prospective agent of mine long ago labeled in a critique of my MS (after sitting on it for many months): “…too much narrative.” I wrote and asked her to define that, but received no response—not surprising, because it required more than a form letter, so she couldn’t bother. I was left to figure out what she meant, naively giving her the benefit of th...