Writing Engaging Dialogue
Amberly Garcia
- “That’s not how a real person talks.”
- “It feels stilted and wordy.”
- “Maybe it’s a bit out of character for her to say that to him.”
If you’ve received any of these comments while workshopping your dialogue or these thoughts have popped into your head while reading the first draft of your WIP, congratulations! You can now see the problems in your dialogue. But how do you fix it?
Writing dialogue is one of the trickiest elements in fiction writing. However, it is also one of the most fun things to do in fiction writing. Following some of the dos and don’ts of dialogue writing can improve your writing skills and help you learn some great self-editing techniques.
Don’t Use Dialogue to Info-Dump
I’m not just talking to my fantasy and sci-fi writers. I see you hiding in the back, realistic fiction writers. The truth is, it’s hard to resist the urge to have a character explain the logistics of a magic system, or why the terrain of a planet is hospitable for human life, or their whole love story in a few pithy sentences. But is that the best way for the reader to experience this information?
The main goal of a fiction writer is to transport readers into the scene. There are other ways to show this information rather than using a character as your hand puppet to tell your readers the background info or rules of the world.
To remedy the need to info-dump in the dialogue, focus on trusting your readers. They don’t need all the facts to immerse themselves in the story. Readers are smart. They like to fill in the blanks and flex their imaginations. Give them the opportunity to do so.
Also, as you might’ve heard before, and I’m sure you’ll hear again, show rather than tell. Readers want an experience, not a recap of the plot or the character’s emotional responses. Strive for writing scenes and avoid summary. Place readers in the character’s position and show them how riding a dragon or walking on the moon feels. It’s harder, but it’s more fun for you and the reader.
Finally, if you’ve deemed the information necessary and feel like cutting it from the manuscript would confuse the readers, then take it out of dialogue format and sprinkle it in short sentences or paragraphs of exposition, always opting to show rather than tell.
Use Contractions and Fragments
Mimic reality. Most people don’t speak formally with friends or family, so your characters shouldn’t either. Let them use contractions and talk in unfinished sentences. This can help reduce the wordiness and make them sound more realistic.
However, be careful. Don’t get too carried away with the fragments. Dialogue may mimic reality, but your writing should be polished, purposeful, and free from grammatical errors, unlike everyday life. Balance is the key here, as well as an ear to your character’s voice, which I’ll look at in the last section.
Read It Out Loud
This tip goes for everything you write but is especially true for dialogue. By reading dialogue aloud, you can more easily detect the statements’ wordiness, stilted bits, or unrealisticness. Trust me. Try this tip out and see how much it changes your perspective on how your dialogue sounds and helps you figure out what adjustments to make.
Know Your Characters
Discovering your character’s voice is a process. Understanding who your characters are, their quirks, motivations, and goals take a couple of drafts. There is no shortcut to creating dynamic characters other than to keep writing.
Flesh them out, make them consistent in their responses, and give them unique contributions to the plot. If they do something out of character, make it believable. If they’re spontaneous, don’t make all their statements super thought out or eloquent unless something is making them consciously change their speech pattern.
Ultimately, as the writer, you get to shape your characters; dialogue is a great way to do this. Keep refining your characters as you rewrite their dialogue and give them dimension.
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