Dialogue Tips for Writers

 

Dialogue is a part of writing fiction, even creative nonfiction. It gives a break from pure narrative, and it helps make your characters more realistic, more alive. Dialogue also helps get important information to the reader. Writers should learn to use dialogue effectively, not merely toss it in every few paragraphs.

A few tips when writing dialogue:

1. Don't be too formal. Write what your characters say as though you were having a conversation with a friend. If you and she tried a new flavor of coffee, you would probably not say to her, "I do not like the flavor of this coffee." Your remark would more likely be, "I don't like this coffee." When we speak, we use contractions. Use them when writing dialogue, too. Unless you're trying to convey a certain type of character who speaks very formally all the time. 
2. Make the characters sound different. You can convey character traits through the use of dialogue along with an action preceding or following the spoken words. Mary brushed her bangs aside. "I don't know why you persist in embarrassing me." Her hand moved back to her forehead, and she pushed at her bangs again. "I've about had it with you, Tom." Her action is a nervous habit. Her words let you know she's not happy with Tom. Now you can add what Tom says. Tom rubbed his thumb along his chin. "Dis ain't gonna work, Mary. We gotta split."  You can see by their dialogue that they are two different people. 
3. Watch for Info Dump. Don't use dialogue to convey a large amount of information that is not really pertinent to the story or is something you feel is needed information, but you're giving too much at one time. 
4. Do use dialogue to break up the narrative. Just as we should vary the lengths of our sentences, we should vary narrative and dialogue. It gives the reader a break and it also makes the story more interesting when the reader 'hears' the characters conversing.
5. Learn the punctuation rules. One of the most common errors writers make is punctuating dialogue. Punctuation goes inside the quote marks. Susan raised both arms to the sky. "I am crazy about days like this."  The period goes at the end of what she said but before the final quotation marks. If the sentence calls for an exclamation point or a question mark, it's the same. Inside the quotations marks. If you're using a quote within a quote, you use both single and double quote marks. Jimmy grabbed Tony's shirt. "Tom's the one who said 'I'll beat him to a pulp.' Not me."
6. Paragraph breaks in dialogue. Start a new paragraph each time a different person speaks. Even if it is a simple answer like "No." Move on to a new paragraph when the next person speaks. 
7. Tags in dialogue. When you're writing a lengthy bit of dialogue, the 'he said' 'she said' tags become boring. Use them when needed, but you can leave them off sometimes if it is obvious as to who is speaking. Don't be tempted to add an adverb like 'angrily, happily, moodily' as they are telling, not showing. The reader should be able to 'see' what the character's mood is by the action prior to the dialogue and the words they speak. 

It's fun to write dialogue, but it's also important to make it worthwhile. Make your characters sound like real people, not some wooden stick figure.