Father's Day: A Master's Class in How to Write Dialogue

Most dialogue practice connects somehow to observation. For example, a quick search about writing dialogue leads you to a Master Class article. The top practice suggestion is to listen to others talking and "Record everything they say and how they say it as specifically as you can."

When I still lived in Guatemala, I completed this activity more than once; however, I never took notes more voraciously than when I moved back in with my dad. Since then, blogs posts, essays and usually fiction find foundation in our conversations.

"You play well," I often told him. It was the truth. The critique groups I belonged to enjoyed his character in my characters very much. The reality is that my father is also a constant conversation of characters he observed and recorded, his uncle, his grandmother, and especially his own father.

Today, on Father's Day, I decided share a handful of previous blog posts that centered our conversations.

We talk about. . .

The weather

His memories of me, Growing up and Growing old

Food, Farming, Farmers and Community

What I can teach him and what I still need to learn

What we can change and what we can't

Most days my father teaches a master's class in dialogue. Despite my best intentions at paying attention, I might never listen enough.