When we speak, our conversation takes place simultaneously via different channels: words, body language, sound. In a book all that has to be accomplished solely with words, and that’s not an easy task. Before you can write an engaging dialogue, therefore, you must fully understand the complex texture of real-life conversation.

Fiction authors must be perpetual students of human nature. The more people an author meets and interacts with, the more convincingly his fictional characters will speak. It does not help, however, to converse with your inner circle. To develop dialogue skills it is necessary to reach out to diverse individuals, coming from a variety of backgrounds.

I have first-hand experience of being in a new country, learning a new language and feeling like a dummy most of the time trying to figure out what was being said to me. Although it wasn’t easy at first, what I gained from it was a clear understanding that there is much more to a conversation than just words.

WHAT IS “TRUE COLOR BLINDNESS”?

There is an ongoing discussion in the literature and on the web, about color blindness, which misses the point entirely. That’s because it links it to racial issues and forgets the broad picture. True color blindness is that blessed state in which you truly fail to notice superficial elements that stand between you and your fellow human beings; that fortunate failure of your brain to be ignited by stereotypes.

The problem is not limited to race. Limiting the discussion to race hides the broader picture in which racial issues are but one of many facets of the disease and does not allow us to see the rest. Moreover, we turn color blindness into denial, as argued by Warren J. Blumenfeld. As pointed out by Michael I. Norton (see Carmen Nobel’s excellent article), “we do notice race, and there's no way of getting around this fact”. The trick, however, is to notice it and then to go on noticing that it has no importance or meaning whatsoever to you. No, you don't need to fool yourself – that won't work. Please read on.

WHY AM I WRITING ABOUT TRUE COLOR BLINDNESS?

After all, this is a literary blog, not a social sciences one. But I am a writer and I write about Life; I couldn't write and feel about my characters the way I do, without first mastering true color blindness and, as a result, developing empathy. There is no reason why you can't do the same, but someone has to tell you that it can be done, and that it’s easy once you get the hang of it. So I’m writing about it to share with you the many rewards that you can reap from it. I hope you’ll share back and spread the word.