In short, there is no shortage of inspirational reading out there. However, with upsurge in options, a problem has surfaced in inspirational writing community as well as in inspirational reading community. Just what is “inspirational” or “Christian” anyway?

The inspirational romance lines, of course, have well-defined styles set out, and their readership holds them to that style quite securely. Generally speaking, this style is one in which characters in these books are ultra-Christian. They go to church. They quote Bible. They even have ministers who show up on their doorstep un-summoned at first sign of trouble. They are so straight-laced that recently, authors have been asked to refrain from using preachers as heroes in stories because that has simply been overdone.

There is also a faction of inspirational market, however, who believes that Christian literature should have leeway to tackle worldly issues such as divorce, abuse, and drug use as well as other such scurrilous topics. They argue that to reach world with message of Christ, inspirational authors must have latitude to write about topics that world faces on a daily basis, and readers who are clamoring for that type of material should be able to find it.

So who’s right?

Here’s surprising answer: Both of them are!

Over years I have heard complaints from various quarters—friends, students, and family—that even if they could write story they’ve always wanted to tell, they could never get dialogue to “sound right.”

This problem is common among writers and lends itself to few easy answers; however, understanding different modes of communication used to write exceptional dialogue can help even novice writers overcome this obstacle. To write dialogue, four main modes of communication must dovetail for piece to sound believable and honest. The four are: Writing, Reading, Speaking, and Talking.

To those of us who are writers, first mode of communication seems almost second nature. We put words on paper a million times a day for no other reason than we simply must. We are called to it.

There are others, however, who do not share this passion. I encountered many such “non-writers” when I taught high school English. These are people who only write only when a guillotine (or a grade) is hanging over their heads. They write not because they want to but because they have to. Nonetheless, it is from them that I learned something very important to my own writing process: GET IT DOWN! Many of these students would sit for hours saying things like, “But I don’t know how to say it right!” Some of this I realize is simple procrastination, of which even best writers are guilty at times; however, it isn’t always that simple.

A high school classmate of mine went to same college as I did, and he called me one evening in a total panic. He had a paper due in two days that would constitute half of his overall grade, and he was positive he was going to fail it. When I read paper, it was obvious that although he probably wouldn’t fail, his grade point average was in considerable jeopardy. After reading paper, I laid it aside and asked him to tell me what he wanted to say in paper.

He proceeded then, in actual English, to tell me exactly what he thought about poem in question in a rather in-depth fashion. After he finished, I said, “So, why don’t you just say that?” Immediately, he went on defensive and replied, “No, she wants an English paper.”

That was to be my first encounter with “English paper phobia.” This phobia inflicts writers when they believe they have to make their prose sound verbose and complicated in order to impress whomever it is that is going to read it. Let me assure you—nothing could be further from truth. I would much rather read a paper with simple words and an unencumbered structure than one in which writer is trying to “impress” me.

So, first of all with dialogue, don’t dwell on getting it perfect, listen to it in your mind, and write it on paper. That simple.

The second form of communication a writer must deal with is reading. This is step that novice writing students invariably skip. After getting their words on paper, they run as quickly as they can to teacher’s desk and fling paper at her so they don’t have to look at it again (and many of them, I have to say, do this for good reason). I have told countless students, “If you don’t want to read it again, what makes you think I want to read it at all?”

Once you get your thoughts on paper, there will without question be something that needs changing—hence need for editors. Going back and rereading what you have written comprises an important step in process because reading is simply not same as writing. Many times I have gotten words on paper, whether it be dialogue or simple prose, and when I went back and reread it, it did not make same sense it did coming out of my head.

One of main problems with converting writing material to reading material is timing. Especially in dialogue, timing is essential because reader needs to “hear” rhythm of speech pattern. There are writers who add he said/she said to every quote because they believe it’s not a quote without it. Not true. Every break in dialogue whether “stage directions” or a simple he said/she said must have a defendable purpose. Furthermore, every break must serve a purpose on both written level and readable level.

On written level author may want to convey how character says dialogue, or what they are doing while they say dialogue, or reaction of person hearing dialogue. The placement of such information can make or break a dialogue section.

For example, take two lines of dialogue:

“Well, I just don’t know right now. Can you come back tomorrow?” she asked.