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After years of personal practice in the act of writing, I’ve come to the conclusion that not all dialogue is created equal or the same.  Personally, I believe that there are various types of dialogue that have a unique and specific function in a story. However, for now, I’ll focus on three types of dialogue types. These dialogue types are as  following: descriptive, functional, and epic.

Dialogue Type I: Descriptive

Descriptive dialogue explains your story plot and your character’s purpose. It can also revel itself in many ways, but the most common way (and the easiest to illustrate my example) is the student-teacher conversations. (Think: Yoda-Skywalker or Gandalf-Fodo interactions.)

Example: Confused Student with an inferiority complex talks with Teacher.

    Student: “But what is my purpose? I am nothing compared to my brother.”

    Teacher: “One’s purpose is discovered, my child.”

    Student: “But how?”

    Teacher:  “Fight for it.”

     Descriptive dialogue is a great way to introduce the plot of your story without resorting to excessive illustrative prose.

Dialogue Type II: Functional

Functional dialogue sets up your story. These are the conversations that are usually forgotten by your reader/audience but is necessary in setting up the plot of your story.

Example:  Hero is lost in a big city.

    Hero: ‘Where in the world is Avia Water Street?’

    Random Stranger:  “Down two stoplights and past the Chinese restaurant.”

    Hero: “Okay, thanks!

Functional dialogue doesn’t need to be mind-blindingly creative. It just gets your character or story from Point A to Point B.

Dialogue Type II: Epic

Epic Dialogue is probably the most important type of dialogue you write when you are crafting a story. This is the dialogue that defines your entire story and will leave the greatest impression on your readers/audience. Usually, this type of epic is found in the climax. Epic dialogue contents the lines that are quoted excessively by readers/audience members because it leaves an internal thematic ring inside them.

Examples:

    Star Wars:  “I am your father.”

    300: "Prepare for glory!"

    Dirty Harry:  “Go ahead, make my day.”

Epic dialogue is the toughest to write and is extremely depended on the previous conversational exchanges between your various characters, the story line, and the intensity of the climax. Therefore,  a writer' epic line/dialogue is linked to overall story design.

More about Dialogue in the Camali’s Writing Tips - Dialogue, Part 3

A.N.: Leave your thoughts in the comment section below and thanks for all the good feedback!

ALdotcom: Girls in Science and Engineering

I don't think it arrogant to apologize for an entire half of a species, since many of the sins of that part I am member - male - I can recall in myself, and constantly seek penance when I recognize certain behaviors I may have consciously, or unwittingly participated in.

1. 
   In a study of United States senators (using data from 2005 and 2007), more powerful male senators talked quite a bit more on the senate floor than less powerful male senators. But there were no significant differences between how much powerful female senators talked compared to less powerful female senators.
2. 
   This finding was replicated in a controlled experiment -- again, more powerful men talked more, more powerful women didn't. Additional analyses suggested that powerful women hesitated to talk more because they were concerned about "potential backlash," that they would be seen as less likable, "out of line," domineering, too controlling, would lose power, and be less effective.

Veterans of the Psychic Wars by Wayne Gerard Trotman, is a Hollywood blockbuster compressed in a book. Action abounds with little let up in this fast paced, thoughtful, imminently entertaining science fiction novel. 

Roman Doyle is an unassuming school teacher, husband, and soon-to-be-father on a midnight snack run for his pregnant wife when he's assailed by strangers he presumes to be common street thugs. Events take a further turn when a good Samitarian intervenes on Roman's behalf. His rescuer soon reveals that Roman is an exiled prince, an heir to the throne of an Interstellar Empire currently ruled by a usurper. From that moment of revelation, Roman must battle forces bent on eliminating him. In the process, he must train his mind and body to master the superhuman skills required to triumph over his enemies. The task is supremely difficult, and all is not as it appears as Roman and his wise mentor fight to regain a throne and save an empire from destruction.

Superbly crafted fight scenes populate this book, from single combat, to massive space battles. There's wonder, drama and mystery, bearing promise of a sequel. The author takes a medley of science fiction tropes, from aliens and spaceships to telepathy and artificial intelligence and creates an epic universe-building tale. Veterans of the Psychic Wars is a must read. 

I just wrote a blog about eclipses in Hollywood films over on our sister site blackcommunityentertainment.com. 

http://blackcommunityentertainment.com/read_blog/2560/solar-eclipses-in-science-fiction-films

I mention the films "Pitch Black", "The Chronicles of Riddick", the TV shows "Heroes" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender".  In these films we have the eclipses: releasing monsters, giving powers, and taking away powers. 

I pose the question: 

What films have you seen that feature eclipses and how is the eclipse used in the plot? 

Please leave comments here or tweet me @astroholbrook

Also, Donate to my film "Black Sun" on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/J2q1qy. 

Battle of Puebla - Wikipedia

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Summer is rapidly approaching and once more the Priestess her loyal mortal protectors and the Gods themselves will soon return!

Last year closed with many unanswered questions raised at the conclusion of the grand saga spanning time itself. Once again through her beauty, wisdom and terrible power the Priestess will hold the fertile Valley Region as the crossroads for mortal and god alike! All Hail the Priestess....

Writing dialogue is one of those things you, as a storyteller, will either love or hate. Depending on your personality and your writing style, dialogue can be thing that you enjoy the most about writing, or it will cause the great writing disaster known as the writer's block.

Generally, if you are a person who talks a lot and with a lot of people, writing dialogue is easier for you because you inherently understand the flow and web of small talk and critical conversations.  On the flip side, if you are the type of person who speaks only when spoken to and is the living embodiment of the silent stone warrior, it doesn’t mean that you will be a bad at writing dialogue (often the silent are the best observers, and that gives them good story perception).  Nevertheless, dialogue is something that must be included in a story.

Now, why is dialogue so important? Dialogue is important because it has two purposes in story creation: 1) it advances the storyline and 2)it  develops and/or personalizes your character (s).

Point #1: Advancing the storyline.

    Dialogue advances the storyline because it allows your characters to interact with each other. The most common way we, as human beings, interact together is through talking. By using dialogue you can: cause conflict, educate the reader to the world you’ve created, have a character explain their reasoning behind their actions, etc.  Dialogue is “story action in real-time” for your reader, so it makes the reader pay closer attention to what’s going on in your story.  Too much description will annoy a good number of readers when reading a story. Readers want action, and dialogue is a form of action.

Point #2: Dialogue  deepens  your character’s personality.

Dialogue is hugely dependent on the character (s) you have created. For example, if your character is from the streets, shoots rival criminals, and curses, when you are about to write a scene where he is about to get drunk, having him say, “I shall now engage in the activity of alcoholic consumption, my dear sirs.”  will not only make your reader go ‘huh?’ but will also  destroy the authenticity of your story.  If he were to say, “I’m gonna get crunk. Hell to the yea.” Or “Give me that bottle of rum now!”  Then such lines would personalize your character and make him authentic. Authenticity is the key to story creation.

(Important Note: This is why, as a writer, you need to invest great amounts of time developing and creating your characters before you start writing. Understanding their past mistakes and future goals will allow you to write them well.)

More about Dialogue in the Camali’s Writing Tips - Dialogue, Part 2

A.N.: Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Aldous Davidson a.k.a. Damian Quantus performing some "Speed Tests" so the production of The Fastest can get it just right. Stay Tuned! AND MUCH LOVE to all of those who helped The Fastest reach it's Kickstarter goal!

Credit: New Scientist

Two observations:

• 200 light years away: this will require breakthrough propulsion physics (blogged on last year), else such a trip is definitely "one-way" only.
• Hm...that means "eat your spinach" could be even dicier if it's yellow! Just saying...

The warp drive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity, Miquel Alcubierre (1^st paper on the subject)
Photon propagation in a stationary warp drive space-time, Claes R Cramer

Lecturing at CTN Expo: "I don't want to see your degree - I want to see what you can do!"

CNN Light Years: NASA: Meteor over California and Nevada was size of minivan

30,000,000 years of Tritium!

This section is to provide info on various learning opportunities that are available of various topics.

http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/forum/categories/education-learning/listForCategory

I am working on an ongoing art project in circular forms. Reminds me of diviners and tea leaf readers. A collage of paper shapes on a plate. I stumbled upon some curious configurations, one lights the whole room, one whirls like a tempest in a tea cup. Each form destructs or constructs or transtructs. Been getting strange emails of late asking me to sale the forms for 10 qzots and 50 quantizims. I was worried about alien abduction er thugs but one email had a disclaimer about the rite of passing permissions and unlawful energy flow access strictly enforced. Am I legit after all I stumbled upon this thing, this phenomenon, energy wells and shafts. I glanced in the mirror and saw a glowing mark on my right ear. I touched the mark while gazing in the mirror, a heads-up display appeared with records of procedure, sales and of course my diploma from Megagalactic Tech where I majored in multi polar quansits and quantim metacircular transforms. Sales have been down and I am spending time in my transient impersonation on vacation. I guess I like it too much and forgot myself. On this side of the galaxy I'm called "eBe", the energy bender. Anyway circular transforns are all the rage. Next year we are venturing into squares, yeah it's old school but folks like that edge of the universe feeling they get whizzing through the quantimhood. Qzots, you know the exchange rate into dollars is insane. Better off insisting on Quantizims, as they can be transduced into any currency in this universe. Did you note anything starting with a "q" sounds quosmic?

My writing is taking a back seat as I prepare for the first of two solar eclipses this year. On May 20th there will be an annular eclipse of the Sun. During an annular eclipse the moon moves in front of the Sun, but part of the Sun remains visible. It is necessary to wear protective eyewear at all times. Here is a short video showing the January 6, 2011 annular eclipse as recorded by the Hinode Satellite. 

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=49165671

For the annular eclipse I will be in Tokyo, Japan, making a documentary film. The documentary titled "Black Sun" is about two African American astrophysicists and their upcoming observations of the solar eclipses in 2012. We are raising funds for the filming in Tokyo via a Kickstarter Campaign. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/677592353/black-sun-documentary-film-about-the-2012-solar-ec

I am passionate about this project because it shows a different part of the African American community, a part normally not seen. We made a short five-minute promotional film of our two stars: Alphonse Sterling and Hakeem Oluseyi. 

http://blackcommunityentertainment.com/videos/1345/black-sun-five-minute-short

The annular eclipse will be visible from the western United States. Remember to protect your eyes.

Wish me luck on the campaign!

ATTN: Sci-fi and Fantasy authors, here is a free course given by the University of Michigan: Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World https://www.coursera.org/#course/fantasysf