A quick-and-dirty refresher on writing effective dialogue.
Future guides will illustrate these items in greater detail—but for now, whip out this pocket-sized cheat sheet when your work calls for natural-sounding dialogue.
Eavesdropping
Keep a small journal with you and eavesdrop on conversations, jotting them down word-for-word to the best of your ability (don't make it obvious, or you may tick the speakers off). When you return to your writing desk, read the dialogue back to yourself, out loud if possible. Listen for the natural rhythms of spoken language. Note the myriad ways dialogue sounds and acts differently from prose.
Eavesdrop on conversations, and listen for the natural rhythms of spoken language.
Verbal Tics and Habits
Listen for tics, slang, regional patois, informalities (or overt formalities), and other distinguishing characteristics in overheard dialogue.
No Q&A
You'll hardly ever hear me talk about how people, animals, and objects should look, act, smell, feel, or taste in a fictional world. No one but the author dictates what happens on his pages. The one exception? Dialogue. Now, there will be exceptions—but people rarely speak in "Q&A" format, and conversations are (usually) rather messy.
Which dialogue sounds more natural?
A: Hey, how's it going?
B: My shoulder's been hurting.
A: Oh no. Can I help?
B: Maybe. Do you have an ice pack?
A: Sure! Let me grab it, and when I come back you can tell me how you injured yourself.
B: Thanks much.
OR
A: Hey, what's up? Ouch...you OK?
B: Do you have an ice pack?
A: What happened? Yeah, yeah. Let me look for it.
B: Pro tip...once you hit fifty, lay off the skateboard.
A: You're telling me.
Speaker Agendas
Everyone in the room has an agenda—and it's not to propel your plot forward, explain a story point, provide backstory, or to display over-the-top character traits. Those sound like author goals, not character goals. Your characters live inside your story and have their own desires to attend to. They won't, however, put their desires on explicit display while conversing with others. Agendas are implied—not served on a silver platter.
Agendas are implied—not served on a silver platter.
What do you think Speaker A really wants in the short conversation below?
A: What you got there?
B: None of your bee's wax.
A: It looks delicious. What flavor?
B: ...
A: Rocky road?
B: Yeah.
A: It's so hot today! I haven't had ice cream in ages!
B: I got it at the Thrifty's down the street. It's only like a half-mile away.
A: Oh, sweet!
B: Should take you ten minutes.
A: Too bad I left my wallet at home.
Dialogue is Evidence of Character, and Character Drives Story
Remember this equation: Dialogue = Character = Story
Writing teachers often say well-illustrated characters and their goals are tantamount to the story itself. It's true, a good character can make or break a story, and dialogue is a strong indicator of character. I'm no math whiz, but according to the transitive property, then, Dialogue can equal Story. Dialogue should not exist solely to advance the story; dialogue is the story, and emerges naturally from characters’ agendas. Think hard about eliminating dialogue that's irrelevant to the story, or does nothing to reveal character.
Empty Dialogue
Avoid “Hmmms,” stuttering (“Sh-sh-shut up,” he said), and dialogue that doesn’t go anywhere (“Hey, what’s up?” “Nothing. You?” “Yeah, nothing.” “Yeah.”). I'm not saying people don't stutter—both "real" people and characters do all the time—but stuttering placed overtly in dialogue doesn't always read like actual stuttering. And dialogue that looks forced can yank the reader out of your story. Similarly, people IRL say "hmm" and engage in dead-end dialogue all the time. But does your story need to put a spotlight on pointless dialogue? The answer is, of course, a resounding "no." We're working like gangbusters to write tension-filled stories—why would we derail our projects by inserting dialogue that goes absolutely nowhere? If your own dialogue puts you to sleep, it’ll put the reader to sleep even faster. Always ask: What purpose does my dialogue serve? Is it absolutely necessary?
Dialogue Tags
Use dialogue tags to remind the reader who's speaking. Stay away from unconventional tags, such as "exclaimed," "yelped," or "emoted." Go for the loyal stand-bys "asked" and "said," with an occasional "whispered" or "shouted," if you must. No need to get fancy—you want to draw attention to the dialogue, not the tag.
No need to get fancy with dialogue tags like "emote," "yelp,"
or "exclaimed"—you want to draw attention to the dialogue, not the tag.
And don't worry about the tags sounding repetitive—from the reader's perspective, simple dialogue tags like "said" and "asked" disappear into the background...just like you want them to.
Action and Description Break Up the Rhythm
After a few lines of dialogue (how many depends on you and the dialogue in question), take a moment to inject a quick description of the setting or tell us what the characters are doing. These mini-breaks ground the reader and remind her that we're in scene, with characters doing stuff in a point in time, at a specific location.
Dialogue's Inner and Outer Stories
As you read a story for dialogue, watch how long it takes for the speaker to reveal his “real” agenda; there’s always something lurking below a seemingly innocuous conversation. Think of dialogue as having its own inner and outer story. The outer story is what is said, and the inner story is what is meant.
Dialogue's outer story is what is said; the inner story is what is meant.
Put these concepts into action in your own writing, and watch your dialogue take flight!
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