Suzanne Ruthven 
Compass Points 
Creating Meaningful Dialogue

Poor dialogue is one of the main reasons for a publisher’s reader glazing over when reading a first-time novel, where the author has seen fit to include every superfluous utterance of every-day speech. The purpose of dialogue is to move the story along and to give added dimension to the characters through what they say, and often think. Creating Meaningful Dialogue helps to get rid of the dross from your typescript and retain the gold in the story. Try to incorporate the exercises given at the end of each chapter into your own writing where appropriate and see how it improves the flow of the dialogue by making the characters come alive. With added input from publishers and publisher’s readers, this book is invaluable for all would-be novelists and fiction writers.