Welcome to Day 15 of Hooked on Writing, your free online writing course. This online workbook will help you create a writing habit in 31 days.

Dialogue

Aim:

Use dialogue to incorporate action and setting and to show the motivations of your characters.

How:

1. Take these five objects and three phrases and include them in a scene incorporating dialogue and narrative.

Objects:

1. Footprints
2. Dishwater
3. Clean underwear
4. Armani purse
5. Old dog

Phrases:

1. “I’ll kill you.”
2. “So that’s where they were.”
3. “You’ll never make old bones.”
4. Pick a setting and two characters from a magazine, or your own setting and character collection.

Consider:

Temperature:
Time:
Mood:

3. Write a one-page scene incorporating as much dialogue as possible. Use the phrases, objects, and setting details to add layers to dialogue.

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Result:

You have created a conversation out of nothing, and made your characters more interesting.

At Night

Use your writing journal here. Write ‘At Night’ at the top of a clean page. Free write or expand on the exercise you’ve completed. (If you want to buy the downloadable workbook, which includes space for these exercises, you can get it in our store for only $20.)

‘When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don’t state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.’ – Lewis Carroll