Readers Respond: What's Your Favorite Tip for Writing Dialogue?

Responses: 23

From Ginny Wiehardt, former About.com Guide

I'm a beginning writer and I've learned the dialogue ropes by pouring over the library for books that have similar plots or themes as my book. I then find different sections of dialogue in them and study how the plot effects the ways dialogue is written. My biggest hint for any writer is: let your work breathe. Write your book the whole way through and then put it in a drawer. Don't look at it or think about it for a week, a month, maybe even a year. When you go back and find it, rereading will give you a whole new perspective on what works and what doesn't. You become one of your readers.
—Guest Ashley T.

Read Agatha Christie's Murder Stories--she's full of dialogue! When I write letters, I often flow into dialogue, repeating something someone said. Example: I was talking to Janet the other day and she said, "The play was just lovely and she came away feeling uplifted." It seems so to come so naturally. I tried writing fiction once but the conversatation was so stilted; so I think one has to become well acquainted with ones characters and then just let them talk!
—Guest venkatesan

People can use dialogue to reveal backstory, but sometimes it's done in an awkward way that would not happen in real life. An example is "As you know, Bob, we've been best friends since the third grade."
—The_Writing_Goddess

Please help me out with this one, what percentage of a novel should consist of written dialogue? Kind regards, James
—Guest J Young

Just don't think about it too much, ask yourself, would this character really respond in this way? If the answer is no, bin it. Keep it simple: avoid adverbs at all costs and watch out for too many exclamation marks.
—Guest CoffeeBean

A lot about writing engaging dialogue has to do with knowing what aspect of the story you want to reflect in dialogue instead of description. Aspects with suspense value , that will bring about turning points in the story or establish the personality of the character are better shown through dialogue not told through description.
—ChudiX

A major part of writing enthralling dialogue consists in knowing what to bring out through it instead of by description. Things with suspense value or that bring turning points to the story are better laced in dialogue from my experience.
—Guest Chudi

Sometimes putting action with dialog helps. For example, someone states " I skinned my knee" after falling. Or, the character falls in the story, gets up and dust of his or her clothes stating, "Oh great, not only did I tear my slacks, but I skinned my knee also."
—Guest Mari

to write a dialogue may be quite hard for you. I needed to know how and what to write. Amazingly enough, i learned that fictional writing is like a biography. how to write one is like acting like you're in the middle of a conversation with yourself. you want to begin strong and end strong (maybe even stronger). Do not mention all the facts at once . . . hold your reader . . . and keep him/her plugged in!!
—Guest Grammar Phobic

Read Agatha Christie's Murder Stories--she's full of dialogue! When I write letters, I often flow into dialogue, repeating something someone said. Example: I was talking to Janet the other day and she said, "The play was just lovely and she came away feeling uplifted." It seems so to come so naturally. I tried writing fiction once but the conversatation was so stilted; so I think one has to become well acquainted with ones characters and then just let them talk!
—Guest Paula Niall

You can use non-lexical fillers like"Err","hmm" etc. not only for the realistic feel of speech but also to eliminate the traces of writen concept
—Guest Samyukta

Don't be afraid to spell words like they're pronounced in speech. Nobody speaks the way most dialogue is written - it's too canned. Open the can and express the characters as they really are by matching spelling of words to their speech.
—MikeFook

I've found that I can almost entirely avoid speech tags by making who's speaking obvious. Here I meet my future wife, Malodor Skunk. The third character is Mabel Squirrel, the bartender. Relaxed in the cool barroom, the tired young skunk barely noticed a large rat come in and sit at the bar. "Hey, Mabel, where's all'a the action today?" An obnoxious young rodent, Malodor thought. She'd seen rats like him in high-school. They were the jocks, brash and used to getting their own way. Ugh, just what she needed. "I love a little squirrel in the afternoon, you know, Mabel, honey? How 'bout you and me, baby, getting together later? Say what, babe?" "Only in your dreams, Oscar. Only in your pathetic wet dreams." Malodor went up to the bar for another drink. "Can I have another beer, please, uh ... Mabel?" "Sure, honey. And what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Malodor sighed, while watching the rat out of a corner of her eye. She hoped he would leave her alone.
—OscarRat

Remember what kind of words your characters are likely to know - for example, will your orphan boy really say 'preposterous' without any education? But your book loving, hyper protagonist might. Also, don't overdo dialect - a hint or two here and there gives an effect without making readers put down the book in frustration because they can't understand what is going on. Try to avoid having your main character talk in dialect, especially. Also keep it out of the narrative.
—Guest Sakhi

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