This craft analysis will provide an overview of dialogue, including guidelines for writing dialogue.
Dialogue consists of gestures, thoughts, and spoken language.
For Starters
If you are just beginning to write dialogue, it is important to become familiar with a few guidelines. Good dialogue usually…
- Is brief
- Is used sparingly
- Fits the character
- One-ups
- Contains active pauses
1. Brevity
Brevity means that your dialogue is not overly complex or clunky. When you get the chance, listen in on a real world conversation. You will notice a few things about the way people make conversation. They tend to speak in short sentences. They tend to speak using simple vocabulary. And they tend to speak in a circular fashion—often repeating words and phrases and returning to the same ideas again and again.
Dialogue does not have to be long. Sometimes, a single word may suffice. Indeed, dialogue consisting of long sentences tends to sound unnatural. In order to test your dialogue for brevity, read the exchanges between your characters out loud. You will find that it easier to identify clunky dialogue by listening than by seeing.
2. Best Used Sparingly
Some books seem to be nothing but long exchanges of dialogue, so it might seem strange that I am encouraging you to use it sparingly.
Dialogue is to a story what seasoning is to a dish. A dash of it here and there adds flavor, but using it everywhere makes things too spicy. Try to find a comfortable balance between little dialogue and a lot of dialogue. Used sparing, dialogue is powerful tool that enhances your story.
3. Fits the Character
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for dialogue to fit the character voicing it. A twelve-year-old girl must speak as a twelve-year-old girl, not a forty-year-old man. You may have to read and modify dialogue several times before it suits the character. Speak your dialogue out loud and listen carefully. You might even consider asking a friend to read it to you out loud.
4. One-upmanship
In dialogue characters are always trying to one-up each other. If Tommy says, “I don’t like Janie,” then Janie says, “I never liked Tommy.”
Whatever you do, don’t have characters just agree with each other. A character that doesn’t try to one-up another character falls flat and becomes passive and dispensable. A well-designed character will always try to outmaneuver another character in conversation.
5. Active Pauses
An active pause occurs whenever a character chooses to remain silent rather than respond to an argument in a conversation. In a heated moment, a character may be left speechless or may not be able to come up with a fitting response. If that is the case, allow that character to say nothing. Silence speaks.
Dialogue Tags
Try to avoid words like shouted, blurted out, interrupted. In general, you want your dialogue tags to be invisible. Let the dialogue tell the reader what the character is saying, not the dialogue tag. Tags, such as “said” and “asked,” are typically invisible and are safe to use. At times, a tag may not even be required.
Gestures
Dialogue is not all voiced. Characters can respond with their hands, their facial expressions, and other body movements. While you shouldn’t describe every eye blink and every physical motion of the character’s body, you should describe meaningful gestures. They are, after all, a component of dialogue.
In general people are not talking heads. People are quite busy. If they’re at a dinner, for example, they are speaking between drinks, between mouthfuls, using napkins. If they’re at work, then they are typing, or using a power tool, etc. Your characters should also be occupied, and you as a writer should recognize body language opportunities during these activities.
Thoughts
One of the great strengths of literature is the ability to show a character’s thoughts and feelings. While you do want to be careful how often you reveal your character’s thoughts, it can be a powerful way to communicate ideas to the reader. I typically avoid sharing thoughts and feelings unless I am writing in first person or I cannot show a character’s intention without sharing them.
Reading between the Lines
Dialogue is generally understood on two levels. The extrinsic (outer) meaning is the direct translation of the sentence. The intrinsic (inner) meaning is the implied meaning or what is popularly known as reading between the lines. Dialogue is always operating on a deeper level, and it is this level that readers enjoy. To write powerful dialogue, make sure that you understand both the intrinsic and extrinsic meanings of a character’s dialogue.
In Conclusion
If you follow a few simple guidelines—brevity, infrequency, fit, one-upmanship, active pauses—your dialogue will become a powerful tool for forging your story.