Writing Journal: Dialogue

What is the reason you chose the option (a, b, or c) you did?

I chose option c because it was the only painting that depicted a story that I roughly knew. Since these paintings are religious, I didn’t want to make up a story that did not have at least some parallels to the religious story. I wanted my story to be somewhat accurate. I didn’t look up any extra information about the story, so I was still able to be creative, but I needed some sort of guideline to get my writing started.

What is challenging about writing dialogue, especially when you are reliant on it for character development?

The most challenging part of writing dialogue is showing rather than telling. Since I was reliant on the dialogue or thoughts of the characters to provide the character development and to push the story forward, I had to tell the story through the dialogue while trying to convey a natural conversation and natural thoughts. This was extremely difficult for me.

Do visual works add or detract from your ability to be imaginative in your writing and why?

I think visual works can add to my ability to be creative when I can relate to them. However, with this assignment, since all the paintings were of religious stories (something I know very little about) it detracted from my writing. Rather than being as imaginative as I could, I wanted to make sure that I was doing the story justice and was not being blasphemous or sacrilegious.

What are some of the most notable differences between the cities of Rome and Naples; do you think the place has an effect on how you write? If yes, how so, and if not, why do you think it is irrelevant?

Unlike Rome, Naples does not take very good care of its old churches, buildings, and monuments. It seems like their upkeep is not as constant, allowing for plants to grow out of church rooftops and such, but it adds a certain charm to the city. I also thought that the people in Naples were friendlier than the people in Rome. The food is much cheaper and just as good, if not better. Naples is just as busy as Rome, but there seems to be more activity and liveliness. I do not think Naples had an effect on how I wrote my story, mainly because I wrote my story in Rome, but also because I was not writing about Naples. Regardless, however, I think my writing is unaffected by where I am—it changes over time, but this is not because of my location.