But it doesn't have to be that way.

If you want to make your characters stand out and be unique (i.e.: see the light of day in a published book), first try running your dialog through the cliché detector. Figures of speech can be so common you don't even notice them - phrases like, "we're not out of the woods yet," or "don't count your chickens before they hatch" tend to slip right past our radar. Don't let them.

Make your dialog better than that, more original. In your dialog revision, take the time to establish a voice, even a lexicon for each of your main characters. It'll make them stand out from each other, and more, it'll make them jump off the page. Here are four ways to make your characters "talk different."

1. ATTITUDE:
Is your character defensive, combative, a know-it-all, a joker? Make sure that her dialog consistently reflects this.

Let your character's attitude inform every utterance. As an example, take Deborah Wiles' EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS. The obnoxious little boy, Peach, could have just said, "Good morning, Comfort," when he came into her room. Instead he says, "It's morning and I've come to see you!"

That little tweak shows us his quirky personality, as well as his attitude. Is he excited to see Comfort? Oh, yes. (Is she excited to see him? Not so much -- and her dialog reflects this.)

2. EDUCATION:
Your characters' level of education determines so much of their speech, from word choice to sentence length and complexity. Make sure that you take this into consideration and use it to set characters apart from each other.

Have the smart characters use bigger words than the rest; have the not-as-smart-as-they-think-they-are characters MISuse bigger words. In my book, FAREWELL, MY LUNCHBAG, janitor Maureen DeBree aspires to a more sophisticated means of expression than her education allows. That's why she says things like "Don't cast nasturtiums" instead of "Don't cast aspersions," and advises the detectives to use their powers of "reduction," instead of "deduction."

3. FRAME OF REFERENCE:
What does your character obsess over? What kind of background did he come from? What kind of world does she live in? These considerations will inform what your characters say and how they say it.

For example, in EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS, Comfort's older brother, Tidings, is obsessed with all things military. When he greets her, he says, "Easy, Private!" When asked where the visitors are, he says, "The troops are reconnoitered in the back parking lot." It's never a challenge to know when Tidings is speaking, and his dialog reveals a lot about who he is and what his aspirations are.

4. EXCLAMATIONS
What kind of character would say, "Criminently"? What character would say, "Eeww, gross"? (Hint: probably not the same character.) Exclamations are a small touch, but if you use them right, they can help the reader zero in on the personality of whoever is speaking in a heartbeat.

For example, in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, the hero, Harry Dresden, is a wizard/private investigator. He uses phrases like "Hell's bells" and "Stars and stones" as exclamations, giving him a uniquely wizardly way of expressing himself. If he just said "damn" and "holy moley," it wouldn't have the same effect.

Take these four considerations into account, the next time you're taking a closer look at dialog. And I guarantee, to paraphrase David Sedaris, that your characters will "talk pretty one day."

BIO
Edgar-nominated author-illustrator Bruce Hale is passionate about inspiring reluctant readers to open books (and read them). He has written or illustrated more than 25 seriously funny books for children, including the award-winning Chet Gecko Mysteries series, Snoring Beauty (one of Oprah's Recommended Reads for Kids), and the comics-novel hybrid, Underwhere. Read more about the books on Bruce's website.

An actor and Fulbright Scholar in Storytelling, Bruce is in demand as a speaker, having presented at conferences, universities, and schools all across North America.

Plus, he's one nice guy.

And, you can get great articles like this one by signing up for his newsletter. It's free here.

Guest post by Jennifer Brown Banks:

Last year, when I landed a blog gig that boasted 100 bucks monthly for 300-word posts, I was tickled pink. Easy money I thought to myself.

Not only did this project seem exciting and effortless, scoring it, along with my other "regular" blogging clients, meant I could save time, effort, and angst from scouring weekly job boards and networking feverishly for potential leads.

But my joy was short lived. Not long after accepting this job, I realized that not all blogging gigs are created equally.

Blog listings are increasingly abundant on Craigslist, Freelance Writing Jobs, Blogging Pro, and Pro Blogger.net, to name a few. But what should you look for in "reading the fine print?" What makes for a profitable pursuit? Here are a few things you need to consider in assessing a blog job offer or ad:

5 Key issues to consider

1. The scope of your responsibility---This may seem like a no-brainer, but trust me, it isn't. In other words, will you be
required to do research? Will you have to make your posts Search Engine Optimized? Provide your own topics? These are things to consider. $50 per post may seem like a lot initially, but if the subject matter requires extensive research, tech troubles, and red tape, you'll end up with very little earnings for your efforts.

2. The amount of expertise required---Some blog jobs call for you to know different content management systems to post your own work (i.e Wordpress, Scrives, Blogger); with others, the blog owner does the actual posting upon approval. Additionally, some projects require you to provide your own photos, to be versed in things like anchor texting and social media. Make sure to be compensated equitably for your skill sets and your time. Just like you would in corporate America.

3. The method of payment---Will it be based upon performance metrics, like per clicks? Readership levels? Readers' votes? Or perhaps per post? Per word? Be clear on the terms and how you'll collect your pay. If it's vague, steer clear.

4. What's the standing of the blog and its owner? Is it a highly ranked site? Popular within its niche? Many ad placements? These tell-tale signs will determine how successful it is and the likelihood of future pay. For instance, I blogged for one client for a couple of weeks who decided to "close shop" because things were not materializing the way he had expected. If I had done my homework, I might have known of his struggles to stay afloat and devoted my energies elsewhere. As they say, "time is money."

5. Interaction level with audience---Creating blog posts can also carry with it the pleasant but time consuming task of
responding to readers and answering related questions. Will you be allowed to make a general statement of "thanks", to bypass commenting, or are you expected to address each one individually? Depending upon your time constraints and personal blogging style, this may or may not be a concern.

As with any job, the proper "fit" is important for longevity, success, and career satisfaction. So keep these tips in mind to make the most of your blogging experience, and to make the most money for your efforts.

BIO:
Jennifer Brown Banks has blogged for many of the top, award-winning sites such as PROBLOGGER, Technorati, Daily Blog Tips, and Search Engine Journal. When she's not blogging, she's likely in hot pursuit of a good bargain sale.

Thanks, Jennifer, for generously sharing this information!

Diane Bailey, who has more work-for-hire experience than I do, agreed to share some about her experience.

I like soccer as much as the next American.

Meaning, if someone had asked me what I wanted to write a book about, it wouldn't have been the history of the World Cup. Same goes for Miley Cyrus. And the future of warfare. And yes, even vampires.

Actually, sometimes it's nice not to have a choice. People generally tend to choose things that are familiar; we take the easy way out. But work-for-hire projects don't always mesh with our interests or expertise. Instead, they require us to step outside our comfort zones. I'm usually happy to leave, because it's also my boredom zone.

Work-for-hire writers specialize in being general. That's not to say we don't have a certain set of skills. To get hired in the first place, we're selling our particular expertise: how to research and write a book, within the peculiar requirements and constraints of the library and educational market. But implicit in this set of skills is adaptability, a game-face approach to whatever an editor throws our way. We've got to be good at mustering up curiosity and manufacturing enthusiasm about practically anything. Of course, there are some wfh writers who might stick to sports or history or pop culture. But for writers who are trying to make a living at it, they're likely to take what they can get. For me, this "grab bag" mentality is part of the attraction.

When I started writing, I worked as a journalist in the entertainment industry. I watched a lot of TV, I went to a lot of movies, and I interviewed a lot of celebrities. I won't deny this had an element of glamor to it--and I did get free food--but after you've written a couple hundred actor profiles and inadvertently become addicted to Days of Our Lives, it starts to get a little old.

A couple of years ago, an editor contacted me with a list of books she was assigning, and asked which one I would like. One of the titles was about Bono, the lead singer of U2. Another one was a career book about brain surgeons. A lot of people might have jumped on the Bono book. But I wasn't particularly enamored with that idea. I'd done the celebrity thing. I wanted something else. So I took the brain surgeon book, and loved it. It's still one of my favorite books that I've done.

Other times you just plain luck out. Recently I got a list of titles to choose from. One of them was in a series about economics, and was called "How Business Decisions are Made." I didn't pick this one, even though it paid a little better than the one I did choose--a book about zombies. Because, seriously, how could I NOT write about zombies if given the opportunity? I mean, I COULD make a good business decision and earn a little more money by writing about business decisions. OR I could write about zombies. In this particular case, I turned to a higher authority and asked myself, What would Shaun of the Dead do?

With wfh projects, sometimes you get great topics; other times they're not your first choice. But you rarely work on a project long enough to get bored with it. I often think of writing a work-for-hire book is somewhat like taking an eight-week course (or, depending on how organized your editor is, a three-week course). You learn the subject matter and then you write your final paper, which will happen to end up in a library binding. But you don't have to get up early and walk to class in the rain. And you get to deposit your diploma.

And it's only about writing. You don't have to worry about any of that pesky marketing-and-promotion stuff. In a sense, work-for-hire is craft at its most pure: you are not saddled with the worry of deciding what will sell, or to whom, or how well. There's something comforting in knowing that your job is to just write the book. It's one thing to deal with an idiotic or irrational editor (I say this only hypothetically, of course: my editors are all normal!). I mean, we're writers. We understand neurosis. But spreadsheet-literate people from sales? Yikes.

I got my first work-for-hire job through a tip from a colleague. I emailed my resume, and even though the editor I contacted didn't have any work for me right then, she passed my name to another editor who'd had a writer drop out on a project. She needed someone, pronto, to write the book. I agonized over this 6,000-word book. I probably--okay, maybe--made minimum wage by the time you averaged out my hours. But that first book led to regular work from this company. Meanwhile, I researched other educational publishers and packagers and went through the drill: sent my resume and samples, and waited for my inbox to fill up.

This happened rather slowly.

Some companies didn't respond. Some responded with the always-cheering, "We'll keep your material on file." I always thought they were lying when they said this, and maybe some of them are. But I know at least some of them aren't, because I've gotten contacted for work months later.

One company I work for doesn't pay as well as the others, but, you know, it's a job. And it's a packager. I mention this because my editor there may work for more than one publisher. Even if his budget on one project is low, the next one may be higher--and he's already familiar with my name and my work. Either way, I'm still earning more than I would working at Wal-Mart.

And I get to write the word "zombies" on my resume. You can't put a price tag on that.