Dialogue tags and facial expressions

I'll be finishing Chapter 13 of Bewitched & Betrayed tonight. I'm giving myself no longer than four days per chapter. That'll put me finishing the first draft around the first of February rather than the end. I always like to give myself as much time as possible for that second (and final) pass before I turn the book in to my editor.

Dialogue tags (other than "he said/she said"), facial expressions, actions during dialogue -- I can see them in my head while I'm writing, but I usually wait until the final pass to put them in. Why? Because getting that description precisely how I want it takes time, time that I can't spare during the first draft. For me, the first draft is for getting the story down. Those details come later. So what do I do for placeholders? Simple. If I visualize a character saying something with a smile or smirk, I simply put that word in parenthesis and quickly move on. If I have a big chunk of dialogue from a character and need to break it up with some movement or action, but don't know what I want them to do yet, I put (action) right where I think it should go in the dialogue and move on.

These things are the spice I add at the end, it's what brings the dialogue to life for me. But while I'm on first draft, I just stick in a placeholder and keep writing.

Some of what's coming up:

• Let every scene advance the plot
• Never stop learning
• Why downtime is good time

FYI -- I'll post a quick blog on Friday morning, then Derek & I are out of town for the weekend having a pre-Christmas visit with my family. As a result, I won't have access to email or the Internet. Yes, I'll probably be twitching like an addict going cold turkey by Sunday evening when we get back home. I'll try to catch up on email then.

Lisa