How to Write Dialogue

There are many ways to further the plot. Sometimes It is with dialogue. More specifically, a writer can use the conversation between two characters or more to further along a scene or the plot. Maybe, the conversation might even give some sore of spoiler or hint as to what will happen next in the story. Not only that, dialogue can also show a character’s personality, the relationship to another character, and even personal growth of the character. Dialogue can do a lot. So, other than plot dialogue (as a story element) is also very important. However, some of us, are not good at writing dialogue. So, in this article I explain how to write dialogue.

Step 1: Do NOT write small talk. Small talk is unnecessary words that your character is saying. Unless your character is a noble or a rich man or anything that requires you to write small talk as a dialogue for your character you should generally avoid doing so. Writing small talk does not do anything for your character or your story. It doesn’t show off the characters personality and it doesn’t show how the character is related to another. Often, it’s a filler. The reader does not need to read something like “hey john, how’s it going!” every time a character is introduced. The reader will end up becoming annoyed.

Step 2: Give each dialogue its own paragraph. I’ve seen writers put whole paragraphs of dialogue in another paragraph and in the middle of a paragraph. Or they put a line of dialogue in the beginning of one giant paragraph. Do not do that. It will be lost in the paragraph and sometimes the reader will not know that what was written was dialogue to begin with. The best way is to give a line of dialogue its own paragraph, even if its just one word. Its easier for the eyes to follow and the dialogue will not get lost in the paragraph.

Step 3: Do not use said heavily. I want to point out that there is nothing wrong is using said at the end of a quote from a character. In fact, I recommended doing so. However, do not use this consistently for every single piece of dialogue. Instead, use an adjective or a verb. In fact, you don’t have to use any at all. Doing so, will reduce the redundancy of your dialogue. One thing I like to do is highlight all my dialogue and read it out loud. If I’m saying “said” every time or every other time that means I have used “said” to many times. Another thing I like to do, so I don’t have to use any adjective or verb to describe what the character is doing is include in the paragraph where the character is doing something or thinking. For example, from my story Where Broken Hearts Come to Rest;

“Stop it!” I yelled, my body shaking from anger

But they didn’t stop. 

I hate you... 

Slowly, I started to walk closer to them my sanity slipping. My anger intensified, burned in my chest. 

I HATE YOU!

Then that thin thread that held me together snapped. Vision going red I snarled low in my throat and rushed at them claws pointed in their direction. 

STOP IT!” 

In the first line of dialogue, I used a verb. I then explained the feelings and actions in another paragraph before writing the last line of dialogue. Because I had done so, I didn’t need to write any verb or adjective for the last line of dialogue.

Step 4: Switch between different techniques. There are several different techniques you can use for dialogue to explain what the character is feeling or doing as they are saying it. I noticed that there are 4 main ways other writers do this.

The First is putting the action the character is doing in front of the dialogue. So, instead of writing what the character is doing or feeling in a separate paragraph, is it written briefly before the line of dialogue. For example,

Jessie rolled her eyes at her friend’s constant badgering, “Do have anything new to say? Cause your really wasting my time.”

The second is adding the what the character is doing after the line of dialogue and after the verb or adjective. For example,

“Screw you, John!”, Timmy yelled, throwing up his middle finger as John drove by.

The third is breaking up a long string of dialogue, once in the middle and once in the beginning or at the end. For example,

Jessie got right in johns face. “I don’t think you understand John”, Jessie snarled, “I don’t care who you are or what you think of me.”

The fourth is putting no indication of who is talking and what they are doing after the line of dialogue. However, you can’t really use it unless there’s a follow up. What I mean by that, is that the writer must establish an already ongoing conversation and/or the people that are going to speak to each other. By doing that the writer does not have to add any verbs or description after the dialogue. For example,

John gave Jessie a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

Step 5: Keep in mind the character. Each character is different meaning the way of speaking is different. So, when the character talks the dialogue should match that character. If the character you made was dark, brooding and didn’t like talking then when that character did talk, he/she would answer in one word or two-word answers without explaining what they mean afterward. Another example is a preppy or talkative character. That character would probably ramble or talk a lot. So, the dialogue for this character would probably be more flowery and long. In addition to the dialogue showing off the personality of the character, it should also sound realistic. When that character talks it should sound like they are talking. I often had this problem because I write in a more essay like way, so my dialogue ended up coming across weirdly award and polite.