I've Started! Yes, I have!

He said she said

Once you have established two characters engaged in a conversation you can drop the bookisms and flow through the conversation. If it gets too long add in an intermitent bookism or action to remind the reader who is speaking.

"So, you wanna go for a walk?" John asked.
"Sure, let me grab my bag." Marcy replied.
"How was school today?"
"It was okay."

You know John is asking how was school and you know Marcy is replying it was okay, so there is no need to continue.

For the most part, plow onward, worry about the rest in the revision and editing stage.

Congrats on starting your first book. Read the full Learn Writing With Uncle Jim. You will find it to be invaluable.

Edited to add:

Full Version:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710

Undiluted version:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7987

Godfather said:

And, what I might do is revise every page after writing it, is that a good idea?

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You might get dizzy doing that. Seriously. I think (opinion alert) the best way for someone who hasn't done a full novel-length before is to just do it. Write the whole thing, fuss about edits and "saids" after you get the entire start, middle, end down. That's the hardest part of writing a full length novel - managing to get to the end.

There's time for details and editing and global Find/Replace after that's done.

And good for you!

There were some very good threads about this that I think got eaten by the crash.

A few things to keep in mind about dialogue: common words like said and asked are always better than purple-prose words like 'rejoined' or 'informed.' Don't use dialogue tags that are impossible. For instance, it's impossible to 'smile' something or 'nod' something (other than yes).

The other thing you can do is use action tags:

Bob shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie. I have to work tonight."
*
Emily laughed. "Boy did you ever pick the wrong girl to mug! The only thing on me is a bus pass-- want it? It's expired."

And of course, when two people are talking, you don't need a tag for every line of dialogue:
Bob shook his head. "Sorry, sweetie. I have to work tonight."
"Again? Well when are you getting home?"
"Late, probably. It's this stupid audit... the boss has us all putting in overtime."
"Well we can certainly use the money," Kate said, "but the girls and I miss having you around."
"Yeah, I know. I'll try to get Saturday off, okay? We can take Emi and Liz to the park."
---
Still pretty easy to follow who's talking, yeah?

As far as editing, I'd recommend writing all you can for the day and then going back and editing the next day before you start writing new stuff. Or at least waiting until the end of a scene... when you're really in the swing of things, it sucks to interrupt yourself in order to edit.

Godfather said:

And, what I might do is revise every page after writing it, is that a good idea?

Click to expand...

There was a very famous novelist of the last century who did that, and I'm trying very hard to remember his name. It's bugging me now. He's mentioned in Stephen King's "On Writing."

If you can do it without losing your drive, go for it. Since this is your first time, I would really recommend just plowing ahead, come hell, high water, or adverbs, and then go back and look at it critically once you're all done.

Was it Trollope?

I think revising after every page is a bad idea. Give yourself at least a chapter--for space to really develop an idea and run with it.

Congrats on getting started! That's half the battle right there. Now just focus on writing and let the rewriting happen later.

Kristen

Just keep writing, Godfather. If revising works for you, do it - if not, don't.

Personally, I revise as I go - I find it impossible to sit the following day if I think all I've written so far is crap.

Was it Trollope?

Click to expand...

I think it was Vonnegut.

Anyway, in most cases it's best to write first and rewrite later. No use slaving over a page until you think its perfect to find out that you have to cut it and ten other pages like it because you decided that the little subplot you have so perfectly woven slows down the overall pace of the book.

You might cut a character or add one. You may find that you need an entirely new scene in its place to set up something grand that occurs later.

Get your structure into place, then rewrite until no scaffolding remains.

I think that revising-while-writing is best saved for second or fourth or fifth novels. For this first one, I highly recommend the plow-through method. Finishing it will feel FANTASTIC, and give you all the drive you need to write another. Have fun!

I would echo the other opinions - write the whole novel and then edit. I think the first draft is about WHAT you say, and the subsequent drafts can be about HOW you say it - that's where your poetic writing can come into its own. Give yourself permission to write badly; it doesn't all have to be perfect first time around (indeed, it won't be perfect first time around, so we need to accept that).
Trying to perfect each page can be a displacement activity, meaning that you never finish your novel.
Of course, if it works for you, then do it! But I don't think it works for most people.