Getwrit - An Archive

The royal family employs no bodyguards. A would-be assassin discovers why.

How do you know if a scene is too dialogue heavy, and what can you do to change it?

You read it out loud and if it’s

repetitive

redundant

unnatural 

out-of-character

awkward/creepy/silly/boring when the scene doesn’t call for it

a mouthful; the other characters are just waiting for them to shut up

hard to remember where they are and what they’re doing besides talking

clear they don’t even need to be talking that much anyway (especially if it’s a stealthy, sneaky scene which seems obvious but apparently some writers need to be reminded, mkay)

then the scene probably needs help. You change it by reading it out loud (or listen to it being read out loud) and cutting/revising/adding the parts your ear hears as problematic. If you can, read it with another person. 

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Mark Daniel - Kolmanskop, 2008

Little-known downsides of immortality:

Tearing your favourite article of clothing and discovering that it’s irreplaceable because the technique of its manufacture has been lost

Realising you’ve thought of the perfect comeback to someone who’s been dead for three hundred years

Not being able to eat your favourite dish anymore because the source of some critical ingredient has gone extinct

Having strong opinions about sports that are no longer played

Getting a song from the 13th Century stuck in your head and being unable to get it out because you don’t remember how it ends and you’re the only person on Earth who knows it

Having that perfect pun you’ve been waiting forever for a chance to use stop working due to linguistic drift