Dialogue

This was the very first bit I saw of the modern re-boot of Sherlock and I knew right then that I loved it, I loved it forever.

Oh how I want to write like Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss...

Dialogue - it's a bugger to write. I always struggle with it, but it's vitally important for a story. Yes, in erotica too! Especially for me, because I'm not the sort who does page-long descriptions of plumbing and orgasms. I have written erotic shorts in which the protagonists don't talk to each other - both Cruel Enchantment and Dark Enchantment feature stories wherein the lovers have no common language - but it's petty rare for me.

Dialogue is there for tension and power-play, for emotion and revelation, for plot and character. It has to sound realistic but not be dull or longwinded. It has to convey information that moves the book forward, but not come across like a memo in capital letters from the author (Oh how I struggle with that!). It has to be dynamic and surprising, yet flow seamlessly. It has to be hot and horny and hit the sexual trigger buttons for readers, but at the same time not clichéd and risible.

Jeez. I wonder sometimes how I dare even try.
:-)