No matter your genre, learning how to write dialogue effectively is a vital part of any writer’s career. Poor dialogue can make readers put your book down in disgust, but when it’s well executed, it can transform your characters into believable, unforgettable people. To help get your characters talking, we have put together a list of rules, exercises and examples that will have you writing sparkling conversations in no time.
While it’s hard to imagine a story without character speaking to each other, they are out there — Laclos’ epistolary Dangerous Liaisons contains next to no quoted speech, nor does Stephen King’s short story “Battleground”. That being said, most successful novels rely on dialogue as a powerful tool for story and character development. Here are four characteristics that a lot of memorable dialogue has in common:
In most cases, characters should speak naturally and not necessarily follow the rules of correct language use. There is a time and a place for proper grammar but writing dialogue is not it — that is, unless you have an officious grammar stickler as a character, of course.
Your characters should be unique, not just in the way they dress or look but also in the way they talk. The use of slang, unique pronunciations, and turns of phrase things helps readers learn about a character’s background, education level, place of origin, and more — all without being explicitly told.
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