How do you write dialogue that doesn’t feel artificial, cliche or boring?
How do you use dialogue to create character depth, subtlety and originality? Conversation that’s not over the top dramatic, or overly direct, and yet absolutely riveting?
In today’s episode, we’ll go over 3 questions to guide you in writing dialogue that has readers hanging on every word.
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Episode at a glance:
[01:48] Dialogue is vital and interesting in and of itself. Readers want and need to listen to your characters interact. Human speech, because it’s inherently immediate, is one of the things readers devour eagerly — when it’s done right.
Great dialogue is active, credible and natural. Every line a character speaks expresses and is fueled by the characters’ circumstances and emotional state.
[02:26] 3 Common Dialogue Mistakes
- Try to mimic real life conversation.
- Every dialogue exchange is a fight or argument for the sake of “conflict.”
- The characters are too direct with one another.
[05:27] Question 1: What’s your character’s motive in this conversation? What effect does he/she want to make on the listener? What is he/she really saying? And why?
[08:50] Question 2: What are your characters afraid to say? What are they not saying?
[14:35] Question 3: What’s the story in the dialogue? What does each character want? What brings them together in this particular place, at this particular time? What’s driving them apart?
Links mentioned in this episode:
Little Children by Tom Perrotta
The Wonders of The Invisible World Stories by David Gates
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Episode 146: 5 Ways to Fine Tune Character Voice
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