Do you know how to write great dialogue? Do you worry that your dialogue isn’t realistic? Or exciting enough? You are definitely not alone! Most writers struggle with dialogue at some point in a project. I find this well-meant quote can cause some of the problems…
“People talk in half-sentences, and say ‘um’ and ‘er’ all the time, but you can’t write dialogue like that, it’s too confusing.”
I’ve heard this said so many times, but personally I don’t believe it’s so clear-cut. Whilst I agree that dialogue constantly peppered with ‘ums’ and ‘ers’, or comprising many part-sentences, would be distracting to read, that doesn’t mean you can’t ever write them into your dialogue.
How to Write Delaying Phrases in Dialogue
Let’s take ‘ums’ and ‘ers’ first. These are delaying phrases people use frequently in speech, to fill the dreaded silence whilst we think of what to say next. They don’t often denote anything particularly interesting, which is why many writers advise eliminating them altogether.
But, sometimes the delay in speaking is due to an emotional state, such as fear, sadness or embarrassment. In these cases, I would advocate including them sparingly in dialogue. They help illustrate a character’s emotional state without you having to spell it out. Then you don’t need any often-frowned-upon adjectives with your dialogue tags, like ‘she said sadly’, for example.
How to Write Dialogue that improves your characterisation
Now let’s consider part sentences, where a character starts a sentence one way, then switches to expressing it a different way. I think this aspect of dialogue works best when confined to a particular character. It helps a character stand out if they have a distinctive speech pattern. However, make sure this style of speech is realistic for the character’s personality and job. A person in a position of authority, like a police officer, would struggle to command people if they didn’t sound sure of what they wanted to say.
Make your book into a movie (in your head!)
Finally, try to imagine your book or short story as scene in a film or television programme. Once you get to know your characters, you should be able to ‘see’ them in your mind’s eye. Imagine them walking into the scene and try to ‘hear’ them speaking to each other. Listen to how the dialogue sounds in your head and ask yourself if it seems like what your characters would say. Cast some of your favourite actors in the roles if that helps! If you find it hard to imagine your scenes and hear the dialogue, read it out loud. Even reading aloud to yourself will help you hear how realistic it sounds, but better yet, read it to someone else and ask them what they think. Getting feedback on your work is so useful, so check out my offer below…
Get Feedback to make your Dialogue Great!
Everybody needs feedback, whether from beta readers or professional editors, both are hugely valuable. And as a writer you’ll know you often have to pay to get feedback on your work. I’d love to help out anyone who wants a second opinion by offering this for free. So, if you post an excerpt of your writing that contains dialogue in the comments, I’ll give you my thoughts as a reader.
And if you have your own tips for writing great dialogue, I can’t wait to hear them. Go ahead and share them with me, and other writers, in the comments.
Happy writing!
