My Five Tips/Tricks/Advice for Writing Good Dialogue

Hey Guys!

So I made a post about all of my rules when it comes to writing good Dialogue a little while ago, NOW I'm going to give you some tips and advice on how to follow them, and overall become a better writer at dialogue.

My Five Tips/Tricks/Advice For Writing Good Dialogue:

Trick Number One: Practice Dialogue coming from your characters.

Something I find the MOST useful (Seriously it really helps.), is sitting down at your computer/notebook, opening a blank document/page, and start to write from your characters POV.

It doesn't matter if your original story is in Third Person or First Person, Past Tense or Presence, write as if this is your characters Journal.
Write about their day at the park, write about being attacked by a monster, let the character talk about himself/herself, his/her looks, taste in clothes, favorite hobbies. Just the random thoughts a REAL person would write down in a Journal.
 It may be hard at first to speak through your character, but after a bit they take over. But still, you really have to pick your brain sometimes about what they would say, how they would say it, what they would talk about, ect.
It helps you to not only get to know your character WAY better, but it also helps you to learn their VOICE, which is just important. You learn the little things about them that make them REAL. It's YOUR job to do that. So ask them questions, answer them as your character, become their best friend, because, overall, that's what they are, right?

Remember to do this with not only your main character, but preferably ALL of them. Yes, even the 'Villain'.

Advice Number Two: There should only be two different types of Dialogue in every book in the world.

The two different types of dialogue is: dialogue of the main character talking to the reader (The Narration), and the Dialogue among the characters.

 That's it, no strings attached.

So if you get into this mindset, that it's really not so different writing your characters conversations as it is your character talking to the reader, it gets a LOT easier.

Tip Number Three: Each character should sound different.

No, I don't just mean the two main characters, or the three best friends.

I mean, EVERY character. That person they passed on the street, the guy who only comes in on one chapter, the Villain, ALL of the supporting characters. If you put them in the book, you need to dig deep into EACH AND EVERY ONE, important or not.

Human speech varies from person to person. EVERY SINGLE personality is different, so EVERY SINGLE speech pattern is different, so don't go halfway and make a random statement, even if it's out of the characters voice.

If you know your characters as well as you SHOULD, this will come completely natural. They will speak for you, and YOU will do your job as a good little author and simply WRITE IT DOWN. But what do we do about those side, SIDE characters who we don't know the backstory to, the life details, the little things?

I have a few characters like this, that aren't THAT big, but still have a few things to say and do. What do I do to figure out their voice?

I do what I do with all of my other characters; talk to them. Learn about them. Ask them questions.
It may seem useless, and completely boring, but it helps overall with the story.

If you want to go HALFWAY with something, then writing is NOT for you.

Trick Number Four: Speech can easily be conveyed through EMOTION.

Emotions are a vital part in making realistic dialogue. If a character is worried, show us they are through what they say, how they say it: How loud, how quiet, how slowly. Is there voice shaking? How do we KNOW they're really worried?

You should be able to close your eyes, and imagine just HEARING the characters voices. What do you hear?

Emotion shows through our voices, so make it show through theirs
.
Here are a few references on Dialogue that shows:

"I looked back up at them and shrugged casually. “I guess this means I’m completely powerless. You can kill my friends now.”"

"“Whatever. So, are you here to kill me, or what?”"

You can just HEAR the sarcasm. Another big key is the actions that go along with the dialogue. It's there to help; So USE IT!

“You’re not touching any of them.” I was surprised at the fierceness in my own voice."

Even without the clarification after the dialogue, you can still tell how he's saying it, right? You can still imagine it. This is because of the word selection, even down to the punctuation. If it was instead:

"Don't touch any of them!"

This could come across panicky, almost frantic. Perhaps angry, but not as a fierce growl as the other one suggests. Practically the same thing, but the tiny word choices make a BIG different when it's delivered.

“What?” Zeen hissed. “Feel what?”

This is a bit frantic, but angry. Without the note that she 'hissed', I would guess she was panicking. Would you?

Advice Number Five: There is a Balance with He said/She said.

I read somewhere that before, after, between Dialogue there should only be: He/She said. I read that an author should never use He growled, She cried, He groaned, She whispered, ect.

BUT. I COMPLETELY disagree. COMPLETELY.

It's not a book without the dialogue clarifications.

USE dialogue narration. It helps convey the words properly, it makes it easier to read, and it's just fun sometimes.

BUT (Again). There IS a balance.

You have free reign with the dialogue narration, but make sure not to go overboard. Sometimes a simple 'He said, she said' at the end/before/between a line of dialogue is all it takes.

In fact, I enjoy it when books does this sometimes. IF the words are chosen good enough, it doesn't take more then He said.

Reader's can figure things out for themselves sometimes, so give them that chance. Chances are, they'll imagine it being said just as you did.

But I must agree that there are many occasions where the He said She said just isn't enough.

Okay, so I think I picked and prodded this whole 'Dialogue' thing WAAAAY too much, but I hoped I may have helped someone!

I'm looking forward to doing a post on creating believable, effective Villains, so stay tuned!

Do you have any Tips/Tricks/Advice for Writing good dialogue? What is your favorite part about Dialogue?

Thanks for Reading!

My Five Rules of Writing Good Dialogue

Here's a post that MIGHT actually teach you something!

You see, I often have trouble giving out advice, because I just don't know if I make sense half of the time, or if my advice is any good considering I'm still learning stuff myself, so don't take any of this as THE TRUTH AND ANYTHING ELSE IS WRONG AND.

Because this is just what I've come to learn. This is just sharing my experiences hoping it might help someone else.

So.

Enjoy...

My Five Rules of Writing Good Dialogue:

Dialogue, to me, is like the glue that holds the story together. Among other things, Dialogue can either make or break a story. Sometimes it's hard to find where dialogue belongs, how much is too much, how little is too little, and if it doesn't sound natural.

Dialogue is a hard thing to do, but here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

Rule Number One: Dialogue should be consistent.

It aggravates me in books where there will be a whole four to six pages FULL of back and forth dialogue. Sure, it fits the scene and is necessary--But then there is the next five to ten pages full of descriptions, thoughts and actions.

This is inconsistent writing. To me, it's as noticeable and disturbing as a book switching from first person to third person, then back again. It's abrupt and basically just shouldn't happen.

It may not seem so big a deal while writing, but it's one of those things to keep an eye out for.

The most annoying part is; it can be fixed easily! You can't have constant conversation through your story--of course not, it might not fit and it may become TOO much--but you CAN slip in little statements here and there between the gapes to make it more consistent and less noticeable. It's the same if there is a long part of explaining or discussing through dialogue; put in breaks of action or thought to even it out.

Rule Number Two: Never use dialogue to tell the READER something.

And by this, I mean; If the reader already knows that they must go from point A to point B, don't have the character tell the other the same thing. If the characters already know this, it doesn't make sense for them to discuss it again for the readers benefit.

To get across information like this, have the character thinking it, if it's something important. But learning it through the characters speech is just a bit grating and annoying. Unnecessary, almost.

Rule Number Three: Dialogue should contain EMOTION.

Dialogue should be a part of the story. Dialogue should convey as much emotion as the plot and the relationships and the events.

Dialogue is not just making a statement, or saying something new. Dialogue should grow characters together, change elements in the story, and tear characters apart. It should do many things.

Dialogue is a weapon, so use it wisely.

Rule Number Four: Avoid Dialogue Dumps.

In each story, there is the beginning climax when a sudden event happens to throw the character into a new world, a self discovery; SOMETHING happens to make the plot begin, leading the character to the different life style, whether it be with elves or dragons or in the same room but a different mind set.

And, after these events, there is usually a mentor, a friend, a wise old wizard, that knows what's going on, and they have to explain. Of course they do, part of the story is the main character being confused at this event or incident.

It makes enough sense, but, this is the WORST PART FOR ME!

You have to sit there and listen to this HUGE information dump about the history of the world, what is happening, the characters destiny, the answers to the main characters questions.

This would be acceptable, if there wasn't another way.

But there is.

little by little, information should be given. NO READER will remember or get from this Information dump what the writer had intended. The reader, like the main character, should learn and grow to understand this new world, new life style, ect. like we learn ABOUT the main character; Slowly.

Bit by bit you can drop information. You may understand and know exactly what is going on, and all of the history, but don't expect the Reader to pick up on it extremely quickly; You've had days, maybe months to figure this stuff out, while the Reader only has a few paragraphs.

In one of my books, the first in a trilogy, the main character is constantly learning new stuff about the world, about her future, about herself, from the first page to the very last. Now that's 123 pages, over 40k words.

So who ever said information needs to be given quickly?

We should be taught like you learn from a math book; one page at a time, one problem and one answer at a time.

Rule Number Five: Dialogue should be fun!

For me, Dialogue is that bit of the story I look forward to reading and writing.

 Through Dialogue we learn more about the characters, learn more about the story, learn more about the emotions and events. Dialogue should flow, should be quick and witty when needed, should be sharp and abrupt when needed.

Dialogue should be sculpted and molded to the story and the scenes and the characters.

Dialogue is fantastic, so have fun with it!