In the sixth episode of How to Write a Book, Elizabeth Day’s new podclass series, hosts Sara Collins, Sharmaine Lovegrove and Nelle Andrew discuss crafting excellent dialogue.

This week’s dialogue between these three experts covers the best exchanges they’ve come across; how to make dialogue work - from setting the subtext on fire, to distinguishing between characters through the words they utter; and the interplay between internal and external dialogue. One of the hardest things to master, dialogue can often fall flat - and part of the secret to making it come alive lies in getting to know your characters. Nelle, Sara and Sharmaine show you how. And, at the end, Elizabeth pops into the studio to offer her own final reflections.

Together, Sara, Sharmaine and Nelle are your on-hand writing community giving you the push you need to get started on that novel, memoir, or piece of non fiction you've always dreamed of writing.

We hope you enjoy our fourth episode. Stay tuned for the next week’s chat on… PLOT.

Books discussed in this episode include:

•  The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

•  The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margeret Atwood

•  Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

•  Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes

•  Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

•  Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Films discussed in this episode include:

•  Marriage Story

•  Past Lives

•  Amadeus

•  Anatomy of a Fall

We also talk about:

•  John Berger, Hilary Mantel and Grayson Perry

•  Succession

Executive produced by Elizabeth Day for Daylight Productions and Carly Maile for Sony Music Entertainment.

Produced by Imogen Serwotka.

Please do get in touch with us, your writing community, with thoughts, feedback and more at: [email protected]

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