And then she said...

Dialogue. For me, dialogue is the easiest thing in the world to write. You don't have to worry about grammar. You can use it as a shortcut to say what you like. You can establish character. You don't have get fancy with the tags ("said" and "asked" are all you really need).

So why is it that everywhere I read lately the dialogue is so... bad?

We had some DOW stories with dialogue that was absolutely unreadable, written in dialect that, even if you deciphered it, made no sense.

In other stories, everyone talks the same way.

In the latest example, people aren't using contractions and are giving grand speeches on their deathbeds.

Dialogue. I can't understand why so many people have so many problems with it. Write like people talk. Period. Yeah, they should be saying something. Don't waste your words. But which would you rather read?

"Oh darling, how the moonlight radiates through the window illuminating your fine flesh."

"Damn you look delicious."

I vote for (and write) option B.

BTW: Today's new words: 3147. I rawk hard.

ETA: The person who wrote the piece of junk that inspired this post didn't like the fb and removed the post. There was an hour of my life I can't get back. I won't be doing ANY fb at TC for quite some time. I'm pissed. off.