Writing Tip Classics: Dialogue

From Linda S. Clare:

What’s a sidestep and how do you use it?

• Redirection and Sidestep are Equals. I’ve called the technique a “redirection of dialogue.” That is, when one character speaks, the other doesn’t simply answer. The tension rises in a scene when the dialogue isn’t predictable. In life we often bore ourselves silly with expected dialogue (Think: How are you? Fine.), but we won’t stand for predictable in a novel.

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Image source Linda S. Clare.