How to Write Dialogue: The Ultimate Guide

Have you struggled with writing dialogue and wondered how to write it?

We will go over everything you need to know about writing dialogue for your characters in this blog post.

Whether you are writing a book, a play, or a screenplay, conversations between characters are one of the most important aspects of storytelling as it is the way to reach to the heart of the audience.

Dialogue gives soul to the character.

It deletes the gap between the story and the reader’s mind.

The more creative and beautiful way of writing dialogue will enhance the script or story of the writer.

Dialogue will help you to convey the idea or nature of the character you want to write in your story.

It is important to write dialogue in such a way that it can become the voice of the character and can show the true emotion as needed in the story.

Why Is Dialogue Important?

• To create drama in script and story- Dialogue is important in every story or script because it add up emotions and feelings in it. Without any emotions a story is just a body without a soul. Drama creation to attract the attention of the readers is most important, and dialogue do that. Writing dialogue will help you to move your story forward and can create a dynamic story.
• To provide description to the readers- Simply writing or narrating a story will not create a clear description to the audience about the character and story. Dialogue helps to clarify the intention and nature of the story and the role of the character. Readers must understand the background context of the story. Effective dialogues help to reveal contextual and characters at the same time.
• To convey theme- Stories have different themes and the best way to deliver the idea of it to the readers is to create dialogues according to theme. Dialogues can create any kind of illusion you want to see by the readers. Whether it is horror, romance, suspense, or thriller, the writer can add dialogues according to his/her story plot.
• To form voice- Think about it, it is so common that when we meet new people around, we can make a thought of his/her character according to his/her words. Whatever people speak can expose their feelings and character. Similarly, dialogue gives voices to show the emotion of the character that deliver directly to the audience. Giving idiosyncratic speech pattern will share the details of inner life through your character.

A writer puts in a lot of effort and time to create a compelling story, improve writing skills, and develop characters.

But the dialogue is as important as any other component of writing.

The dialogue serves as the backbone of the story, and no author or writer succeeds if the dialogue lacks substance, authenticity, and inclination to the story.

Readers often get confused when they encounter long dialogues that don’t seem to take the story forward.

If you want to write better stories with great characters that communicate well, you must learn to write effective dialogue.

Effective dialogue is the only way to:

• Successfully differentiate characters in the story
• Break up a narrative
• Seamlessly move the story forward

The purpose of dialogue is the exchange of information.

It’s not a sales pitch that aims to convince an audience; instead, it’s a conversation between characters that flows and fits the story thread.

Every character has unique qualities and traits that affect dialogue style.

Successful authors know how to use dialogue as an effective storytelling tool.

Dialogue is also one of the best ways to demonstrate your writing skills.

It helps you stand out as an author or writer, as it’s a reflection of your voice and writing style.

1- Make It Unique and Believable

Dialogue must be authentic and natural. It shouldn’t feel like you’re forcing conversation.

It should sound like characters are talking to each other. Use action tags sparingly when characters speak and omit unnecessary words.

The action tag should act like a pause – a moment when characters take a break before they speak again.

Use it to remind readers who are talking, but make sure you use action tags only when necessary.

2- Must Be Brief and To the Point

You must choose your words carefully and make sure they reflect your characters.

A long dialogue is boring and confuses readers.

A good rule of thumb is to keep each character’s lines short and crisp.

When you do this effectively, the dialogue enhances the story’s overall flow rather than bogging it down with too many words.

3- Within Context

When you write dialogue, make sure it fits the story and doesn’t seem out of place.

Your main goal should be to demonstrate what’s happening inside the character’s mind by how they speak.

This builds rapport between readers and characters so that they experience everything along with your protagonist.

4- Layer In a Backstory

A backstory is an arrangement that creates meaning for everything that’s happening in the present.

It also offers readers insight into why your characters act or talk in certain ways, especially when revealing their past experiences and telling stories.

When you’re writing dialogue, it helps if you show rather than tell.

When a character talks about the past or a story, they may relay the information in a monologue.

This allows you to share vital details about characters and their lives without putting extra pressure on dialogue.

5- Character Revelation

When you write dialogue, focus on how it reveals a character’s personality and mindset.

The goal is to make readers connect with your protagonist and feel like they’re riding along with the story.

The dialogue is where your readers learn everything about the characters.

Get inside your characters’ minds and understand their thoughts before you start writing.

The dialogue is the only way to make your characters speak and show what’s happening within their respective personas.

6- Shy Away from Small Talk

Don’t waste the dialogue by incorporating a lot of small talks.

This sort of conversation is boring for readers and doesn’t bring any value to the story.

Readers want to get to the meat of dialogue – what your characters have to say, how they feel about certain things, and why they’re talking in the first place.

A small talk doesn’t help in moving the story forward, so why use it?

Do you ever wonder why in film nobody answers the phone with a hello and when they hang up the phone, they never say goodbye?

Because it slows down the story unnecessarily. Avoiding this type of casual sharing of words will make your readers stay longer.

7- Conflict Matters

Dialogue between characters is engaging and interesting when there’s a conflict in one way or another.

It reveals how the protagonist deals with problems, what they think about their predicaments, and how they plan to resolve issues.

This gives readers a chance to see the protagonist as they navigate their own story.

Truth be told, the dialogue doesn’t wholly serve its purpose without portraying the conflict between the characters.

But when you add conflict, be sure to capitalize on it by using dialogue that keeps the story moving forward.

8- Consistency is the Key

If you want your dialogue to succeed, keep it consistent from the beginning to the end of your story.

Consistency is what makes readers believe that characters have a defined personality and mindset.

It also reinforces the reasons why they share their thoughts and feelings with others.

Be wary, on the other hand, that you don’t make your characters sound too similar.

Doing this doesn’t give them an individual voice.  Everything they say should reflect their unique personality.

9- Don’t Be Afraid of a Little Drama

Use a little bit of drama to make the dialogue interesting.

If you find yourself second-guessing how your characters will act, then put them in certain predicaments that trigger their emotions.

This will help you get inside their minds and present their emotions when they talk to one another.

10- Keep Conversations as Natural as Possible

Keep conversations between characters as real as possible by making them talk in a realistic tone.

Readers will appreciate how it feels like they’re in the story when they hear characters talking naturally to one another.

This also helps them engage more with them, especially when your dialogue occurs between people they can relate to.

11- Let the Characters Do the Work

The goal is to let your characters convey their thoughts through dialogue, not you as a writer.

You can’t make them say anything they don’t want to.

Your job is only to write down what’s happening and nothing more.

If something is unclear, then your characters will state it during the conversation.

Of course, if you’re an experienced writer who knows how to drop subtle hints or foreshadowing, then go ahead and make your characters say whatever you want them to.

This will help build the tension and surprise of the story because readers won’t see what’s coming next.

12- Plan Those Outcomes First

If there’s one thing you need to do before starting a dialogue, it is asking yourself what the purpose of the conversation is.

This will help you think of what you want the characters to say and how they will go about it.

It can be simple or complex, but the results are more satisfying for readers when you plan each outcome.

13- Read It Out Loud

Finally, read your dialogue out loud to get a feel for how it should sound.

When you read the words on paper, they come across as flat and dull.

But when spoken in character, it makes them more dynamic and interesting to listen to.

Dialogue is an indispensable part of any story, and when done right, it makes readers feel like they’re in the scene with your characters.

That’s how you successfully foster engagement and make your story a worthy read.

14- Short and Appropriate

Always write less but appropriate words in dialogues.

It should be thoughtful and deep for the readers.

Do not exaggerate the dialogues as it will become boring and lengthy for the readers.

15- Avoid Unnecessary Words

Just like the Element of Style says… avoid unnecessary words.

Writing lengthy dialogue by adding unnecessary words will bore your audience.

Words in the dialogue should be impactful and clear to the audience.

16- Write the Thoughts in Oblique

While writing dialogue, the writer should make it clear what exactly the character is trying to say and what he/she thinks.

The thoughts of the character during conversation should be in obliques so, the reader can understand easily that it is not the actual dialogue but thoughts that is not loud to the other character.

17- Expose the Emotions

Dialogues are the most important thing in the script or story because it exposes the nature of the character.

It shows the emotions of the play or story and their characters.

Add story- Dialogue should not be just casual talk but it must move the story plot along interest the reader, and can create suspense.

18- Add interruptions

While writing dialogue writer must write short and clear dialogues.

It is rare that people are speaking lengthy paragraphs without interruptions.

So, to make the story feel real and interesting writer must avoid lengthy paragraphs and if you are writing lengthy dialogues, you must add interruptions, it will be more interesting.

19- Think of the Conversation

Dialogue according to the place and people before who your character is speaking is also important.

It will create a relation between them and the story.

People do not use the same way to speak with everyone.

The voice and its words reveal the feeling for the person to whom you are speaking.

20- Avoid Repetitive Dialogues

Avoid repetitive dialogue… sorry couldn’t resist.

Repetition tags in dialogues will likely irritate the reader and are, well, just plain boring.

21- Do Not(generally) Add Names in your Dialogues 

Adding names in your dialogue to speak that person will create a very casual and uncommon illusion of the story.

Adding a person’s name in the dialogue will indicate a serious warning or proving a point.

It can be tempting to the readers but, not always.

So, if you are writing dialogue add names if it is actually required.

22- Do not Inform Your Readers Through Dialogues

Sometimes it is okay to give the explanation to the readers through their dialogues but, not always.

Be careful because the explanation through dialogues can easily bore your readers as it is very unnatural in a character’s talk.

Also, it will create a negative impact of the character to the readers.

23- Long Speeches Have Their Own Rules

If a person speaks for a long enough period of time so as to necessitate a new paragraph, the dialogue formatting rules are slightly different than normal.

The opening quotation marks are placed at the first part of the first paragraph as well as each subsequent paragraph.

The closing quotation marks, however, are placed only at the end of the last paragraph.

In Conclusion: 

Dialogue writing is important to give the real touch of emotions and feelings in your story.

Characters can beautifully derive the concept and theme of the story by their dialogues.

So, it is the writer’s responsibility to express the characters thoughts and nature through their words appropriately.

Further Reading:

How To Write Your Memoir 

The Ultimate Guide To Overcoming Writer’s Guide

10 Steps To Write About Your Family History