Writing dialogue

The other day, I was sitting in a waiting room and I got to chatting with the lady next to me about the book she was reading. It was a Nicholas Sparks novel. I tried not to judge but it turned out she was not a fan anyway. She made the comment, “people just don’t talk like this”. So let’s talk about writing dialogue. Better than Nicholas Sparks does at least. Seriously, why is he still getting published??

Before you begin writing dialogue, think about:

• what does the character want from the conversation?

• what do you, as the writer, want the dialogue to portray?

• do people really talk like this? The way people spoke in the past is different than today. The way a teenager speaks is like different from the way an adult speaks, you know?

What is dialogue for?

Dialogue is how we “show” instead of “tell” in our story. It also provides readers with a visual break from a wall of paragraphs. Here are four primary purposes for including dialogue in your writing, no matter what the genre:

1. It helps advance the plot. Through dialogue you can reveal information, create or intensify conflict, evoke curiosity or wonder, bring characters together, change the dynamic of a scene, and more.

   
   

2. It helps you reveal aspects of character. You can reveal what a character thinks of the world, use vocabulary and syntax to further define who they are and show how they engage in a group.

   
   

3. It helps establish context. Instead of using exposition that can become cumbersome to read, try using dialogue to set a scene, establish who is there and what they are doing, and set up for the next reveal of action.

   
   

4. It helps set the mood and tone of your story. The way people speak and the words they use when they’re in a dangerous situation they’re trying to escape from is going to be different than if they’re enjoying a romantic picnic.

Using dialogue in memoir

Memoir writers are often wary of including much dialogue in their writing. After all, few of us can remember word-for-word a conversation that occurred 40 years ago. They don’t want to stray from the ‘truth’ of the story by putting words in someone’s mouth they may not have said (especially if they’re still alive).

But I’ll bet the best memoirs you’ve read have realistic, funny, authentic-sounding dialogue all through them.

The key is to think about intent. As long as your intent is there and you’ve recalled the conversation to the best of your ability, and you’re true to the outcome of the event you’re describing, it’s OK to be imaginative with dialogue.

Make sure the person sounds authentic, like himself or herself. Think about what you recall about their speech patterns or little verbal tics. For example, my sister has an infuriating habit of saying “you know what I mean?” at the end of her sentences. If I was writing about her in the present day, I’d include that phrase in her dialogue.

Practice exercises for writing dialogue

Dialogue writing takes practice. To get the hang of it, start by listening to how people talk to each other. Yeah, I know this is eavesdropping but as long as you don’t tell anyone you’re listening in or comment, it’s fine. Go to a cafe, take a train trip or visit a public space to listen to the way people talk.

Here are more tips for dialogue writing exercises:

1. ‘Why would you say something like that?’ Write a conversation between two of your characters that starts with this phrase.

2. Write an argument between two or more characters where each one is determined to have the final word. Make sure that with each new line they say, the conflict between them escalates. They must never say anything to agree with or placate the other person. Each line raises the stakes.

3. Take a scene from your work and strip out everything but the dialogue. Can you make it obvious who is speaking and how they’re feeling when you don’t have speech tags or body language to help you?