Informal Speech
H ere's a tip. Have a passage that sounds corny because it is so formal? Reduce the the severity by informalizing the speech of the characters or the narrator. For example, as soon as you start quoting Bible verses, the writing begins to come across much too formal and it may sound corny. Who are these characters who know the Bible by heart? We have a couple of choices. We can cut out the verses or we can find another way to reduce the corniness. Rather than have the characters sound like English majors, give them dialog that offsets the Bible verses with unlearned speech. Throw the words ain’t and y’all and nah in there a few places. Let me show you what I mean. Version I “Don’t ever be sorry about praying. God does some pretty amazing things because of the prayers of his saints.” “Yes, but doesn’t the Holy Spirit stop drawing people if they reject him too long?” “Yes,” Wayne said, “But I can’t help but think that God hasn’t given up if you’re still praying. He’s a ...