Emotional Depth

I’ve been trying to show emotional depth through dialogue for my protagonist and a secondary character who are crucial to the success of finding the protagonist’s kidnapped girlfriend. An author friend suggested that I think about the characters speaking to me and how I'd like that to sound.

I hadn’t thought about creating dialogue from that perspective. I try to look at the world through my main character’s ‘eyes,’ but when I tried to put myself in his ‘head’ and ‘heart,’ all I found was empty space. It's my job as a writer to fill those voids.

A basic tenet of writing is “know your characters.” I flunked that part. Back to the drawing board for more character development.

Update: I was working on a scene to add more emotion, and I guess I succeeded. My eyes filled with tears, and I sniffled. My dog came over to offer comfort.