Good day, Mrs. Fox. I'm curious to know your opinion on dialogue-driven narratives and if they can still connect to readers as action-driven narratives so I can find the one suits better for my writing.
Hi! Thank you so much for your question. I think it's going to depend on the nature of your piece. If it's a very character-focused piece, dialogue-driven can work exceptionally well. Sometimes what is said and how it's said can paint a character far better than description can.
Dialogue-driven might not work as well, though, in an action-driven piece that focuses more on plot points and/or worldbuilding. It also depends on your story length. Micro and flash can sometimes use dialogue exclusively to tell the story and do it well, whereas in a longer piece, you'll need a balance of action peppered with dialogue to be most effective.
Leaning in to your objective for the story--what do I want my reader to walk away with?--will help guide those choices. Unfortunately, no one-size-fits-all, but that's what makes it fun, right?
Thank you so much. Luckily, mine is a character focused piece because I'm working on survival. Thanks for the advice! I'm glad to find another science fiction author and was wondering if you could give me a review on my book so maybe I know I'm on the right path. Thank you so much once more!
Establishing an emotional connection with your readers. Whether it's character based, situational based... good writing makes your reader feel something - whether joy, anger, concern, sadness... Readers may not remember all the details about a story, but good writing leaves the reader remembering how they felt when they read the story for weeks, months, and years to come.
I'm a short story writer, not a novelist... :) But yes, everything I write is based on something that either happened to me, something I read or saw that made me think... There is so much truth in "be careful, you might see yourself in one of my stories!" In my collection, Core Truths, a likeness of both my sons show up in just the first few stories...
