How to Write Character DialogueÂ
Like, in a realistic and engaging way.Â
Preemptive warning that this extremely long-winded and messy post is designed to be a vague guide to help or prompt beginners with methods they could use in writing, to help people avoid common mistakes, and to hopefully aid in developing unique methods of constructing and presenting dialogue. It's also opinionated, and heavily influenced by my own writing style.
This post will be split up into two posts detailing a macro and a micro view - macro being dialogue in general, and micro focusing on how individual characters and stories will have certain considerations. Reblog and say in the tags if you want Pt 2 on the micro-view.
Don't start googling that term. I made it up.
The key to making dialogue sound realistic (and, in turn, making your characters appear more like people - making them easier to empathise with) is to think about how real people talk. Very obvious, right? You'd be surprised.
And no, not the '...' kind. We'll get to that later.
Ellipsis is a term that refers to how words can be omitted from a sentence, yet it can still be understood. It's something we do all the time (though not often thinking about it). For example:
The latter is entirely understandable, but is not grammatically correct. However, most people do not speak in grammatically correct sentences, or even sentences. We speak in utterances and focus more on being understandable than eloquent. It's important to consider this when writing, as I've seen time and time again - even in published books - the writer focusing too much on making the dialogue grammatically correct. The characters sound dry, void of personality, and appear to be reading off of a script at every moment.
Ellipsis isn't going to be used in every sentence. You still have to think about which character will use it and when.
Gonna break every fanfic writer's heart in one statement: using ellipsis to convey pause is grammatically incorrect.
But, good news! Language is made up and I think it works well for dialogue, so it gets to stay.
Ellipsis (...) can be used to convey a pause - usually when a character is considering something, overthinking or too heartbroken to think straight. It can technically be used anywhere, but I'd advise against using it at the beginning of a sentence, like this:
He muttered, "...I can't believe it."
Because, honestly, it doesn't really convey much that you couldn't show through other methods. And, since a pause is silence, placing it at the start of a sentence conveys (in most cases) nothing, as of course there would be silence - the character hadn't started speaking yet.
However, when placed at the end of a sentence, like this:
He muttered, "I can't believe it…"
We report back to the primary purpose of an ellipsis - to convey something has been omitted. Here, the use of the points have created the impression that the character had more to say, but instead trailed off. This is something we do in speech all the time.
To me, dashes are a near-essential part of constructing realistic dialogue; they can be used to present characters' spontaneity, the insertion of impromptu remarks, or a 'take it or leave it' comment that can be considered by the other characters or reader based on context (or what's remembered). For example:
"Well," he said, flipping idly through the pages, "we could go to the city and protest there—that might be too dangerous—or try to rally some support from the neighbouring villages."
That's the (largely) grammatically correct version, though. Since language is made up, punctuation is a lie and readers don't notice nor care, you can do whatever. There, I used the 'em dash' (as opposed to the 'en dash', which is '–', or the hyphen, which is '-'). This is what grammarians and dictionaries tell you to do, but you can totally change whatever you want to suit what you think looks best. Such as putting in an en dash or a hyphen instead, putting spaces between the words and the punctuation mark, or putting marks such as '?' or '!' within the subordinate clause (a relatively-new habit of mine).
As you can tell, I usually put a '-' in writing where I don't have to bother. Like here on this blog.
Overall, dashes are a great way of inserting side-comments and impromptu thoughts, making your characters seem much more natural and alive. Moreover, they can be used to give the effect of stuttering. And, as a bonus, they can also be used to show interruption or a stopped thought. For example:
"But you didn't tell me about—"
"I didn't have to tell you anything."
Personally, I use en dashes for interruptions and em dashes for self-obstructed speech (where the character stops themselves) to indicate the following silence. Punctuation can be used creatively to show whatever effect you want. Experiment and find your style!
This is a short one, since I'll touch on it in part 2, but contractions such as 'don't' and 'I'm' do not necessarily indicate a character, for lack of a better term, isn't posh. I see people try to write characters that are intended to be posh or highly educated all the time and decide the best way to show that through their speech is to omit contractions. In fact, it just makes them sound a bit like a robot. People can still use contractions in speech if they're highly educated, especially in a context where their education or status is not relevant. There are better methods to show a character's personality or upbringing through dialogue, but we'll touch on that later.
I'm too lazy to think of, or look for, a better term. It's where you put the dialogue, and how much of it you have. Simple as.
Let's be blumt. Don't do this:
He said, "blah blah blah."
She replied, "blah blah blah."
He responded, "blah blah–"
She screamed, "blah blah blah!"
Riveting dialogue, am I right?
Instead, let's try jazz things up. Ensure that your speakers are clear to the reader, that the tone can be understood through either your punctuation, descriptions or dialogue, and you'll be absolutely fine.
Elliot was heartbroken. Taking Elena's hand, he told her, "I can be better, I promise."
"Seriously?" She snapped her hand out from his grip. "If you could be better, then why weren't you better before? Before all this, I– now I don't know what to think."
"But you don't have to think! I'm telling you, Elena, the life we can have–"
"I don't want to hear it!" She screamed, "We're over!"
Even if you replaced that with blahs, it'd probably be a bit more engaging. The content of your dialogue isn't the only thing that matters, it's how it's placed. Here, the placing is diversified; the dialogue is sometimes embedded within the sentence, more so than before, making the words seem a lot more related to the context; a better view of the situation is shown, and we aren't bothering the reader with a constant 'she said, he said' situation. Though, it should be noted that 'said' is your friend, not an enemy.
Also, you know how sometimes in TV you get characters go 'all right!', 'so cool!', 'let's go!, etc, and wonder how much they paid the voice actors to say the same generic one-liner ten times an episode? That happens in writing, too. If it's something generic and unimportant to the plot or adds nothing to the situation, you can describe it instead or leave it out entirely.Â
Like how you can say 'he screamed in pain' instead of typing out "AUGSHAHSGEJAJAHHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!"
Also, a few other, quick things because I am tired:
Every rule of punctuation and grammar, as well as every piece of advice you'll ever be given, can be broken in certain situations. Always take advise and grammar rules into consideration, but recognise when it may be best to break them.
Avoid empty adverbs. These are situational.
E.g. 'She whispered quietly' is empty - the verb 'whispered' already insinuates the action was quiet. Adverbs should add to a description or circumvent expectations, an example being if she 'whispered angrily'. Adverbs are not always necessary.
Please don't overuse dashes and overdo stuttering. I'm looking at you, My Hero Academia Fanfiction writers. This line is directed at you.
Obligatory 'I'm not a professional, I just do things sometimes and have some education on this'.
Asks are open, and if anyone wants a Pt 2 where I cover considerations in writing dialogue for certain situations, personality traits, etc, feel free to either ask for that in the comments/tags or send an ask in about what specific thing you want covered!
