Side note to start: thank you to everyone who has read this, I am in now way a professional writer, and you do not have to take all of these tips or advice to heart. I can be wrong, it could just be my opinion or my style of writing, so no need to disagree or correct what I say. On a different note, I wrote this when I was like, 15/16 years old, so I have grown quite a bit from then and definitely will go back and change some things I have said.
But on to dialogue...
Dialogue is not needed in a story. Sure, you may have been told only good stories have dialogue, or any story you have ever read or written has had dialogue in it. It. Is. Not. Compulsory. However, dialogue does give a break to readers from blocks of descriptive paragraphs and give a tone to the character who is speaking.
Here are a few tips on dialogue:
- Write how you would imagine someone would speak. I write a lot different than I speak in person. When I write, I do not use conjunctions, however I do, as many others, when I speak. This also applies to abbreviations or slang, they are commonly used in dialogue. If you write dialogue in a realistic way as someone would actually talk, it helps with the flow of speech, relatability to the character and a more natural feel.
- Make sure your punctuation is within the quotation marks, and be sure you decipher when you should use a period versus a comma. I think I touched on this in a different chapter.
- This may be a more personal thing, but when someone is shouting DO NOT TYPE THE DIALOGUE IN ALL CAPS! I hate this because if you describe the characters tone, and choose your words carefully, your readers will know that they are shouting, so you will not need to emphasize that.
- Tailor your dialogue to the era your story takes place in. If it is a story set in the 1800s you are not going to use modern slang or words within the dialogue or it will confuse your audience.
Examples:
1. Naturalizing dialogue in a story
"Dear God, I think you may have killed the poor boy!"
"Jesus Christ, I think you fuckin' killed him!"
"Lord, if I didn't see otherwise, I would have assumed you killed the poor fella!"
2. Accents within dialogue
"My friend and I were just taking a walk to the creek." (American)
"My mate and I were just taking a walkabout around the creek." (Australian)
"My mate and I were taking a gander at the ole creek, sir." (British)
"My friend and I were just taking a walk to the creek down the way, eh?" (Canadian)
"My friend and I were just takin' a walk to the creek." (Southern)
