Dialogue

To write effective dialogue for fiction, focus on developing distinct character voices, revealing character and advancing the plot through conversation, incorporating subtext, and keeping exchanges tight and intentional. Effective dialogue should not mirror real life, which is often full of filler words, but instead should be a purposeful and compressed version of reality.

Develop Unique and Consistent Character Voices

Each character’s speech patterns should reveal their personality, background, and emotional state.

• Define their vocabulary: Some characters might use formal language, while others prefer slang or simple, direct sentences.
• Vary sentence structure: A nervous character might speak in fragments and stop-starts, whereas a verbose, confident one might use complex, lengthy sentences.
• Incorporate non-verbal cues: Body language and facial expressions are powerful tools for conveying a character’s true feelings. A character might say “I’m fine” while clenching their fists, revealing a lie.
• Conduct the “dialogue test”: Cover the character tags in a conversation. If you can’t tell who is speaking by their distinct voice, you need to differentiate them more.

Drive the Narrative Forward

Every conversation in your story should serve a purpose beyond just filler. It should advance the plot, build tension, or reveal character.

• Use dialogue as action: Think of a conversational exchange as an action scene, where characters are trying to accomplish something, not just talk. A character’s agenda—to impress, manipulate, or learn something—will shape everything they say.
• Cut the small talk: Avoid including mundane greetings or pleasantries unless they serve a specific character or plot purpose. Enter the conversation late and leave early to get right to the essential information.
• Avoid “info dumps”: Don’t use dialogue to have characters tell each other things they already know just to explain it to the reader. Instead, weave necessary background details and backstory in subtly throughout the narrative.

Utilize subtext

Subtext is the unspoken layer beneath the dialogue. It’s the gap between what characters say and what they truly mean or feel, and it creates drama and intrigue.

• Show, don’t tell: Rather than having a character say “I’m angry,” show their anger through their non-verbal cues and the subtext of their words. What a character doesn’t say can be as telling as what they do.
• Create conflicting agendas: Give characters opposing motivations in a conversation. Their clashing desires will generate tension and make the dialogue more exciting.
• Employ a “third place” setting: Having a serious conversation while characters are engaged in a distracting activity can introduce realism and create subtext, as they are unable to fully focus on the difficult topic.

Format and Polish Your Dialogue

Correct formatting and thoughtful editing are crucial for smooth, professional dialogue.

• Use simple tags: Stick primarily with “said” and “asked” and use more evocative tags like “shouted” or “whispered” sparingly. Complex or “flowery” tags are distracting.
• Vary your tags: Don’t use a dialogue tag with every line of a two-person conversation. You can also use action beats—a character’s movements or expressions—to indicate who is speaking.
• Read it aloud: Reading dialogue out loud is one of the most effective ways to test if it sounds natural. If it sounds stilted or clunky, it needs to be revised.
• Handle internal monologue distinctly: Use italics or specific dialogue tags like “he thought” to differentiate a character’s internal thoughts from their spoken words. This is a powerful tool to reveal a character’s deepest conflicts.