A Guide to Writing

Dialogue

Dialogue in fiction shouldn't sound like a conversation you would hear in the real world. If it does you screwed up somewhere.

If you listen to how a real conversation works, you'll hear the people speak over each other, say "um" and "er" a lot, and jump from one topic to another with no warning.

Now, all of this is fine in the real world, but terribly hopeless for writing a novel. Writing dialogue isn't about replicating a real-life conversation, it's about giving an impression of it. You should also improve it.

Fiction is like real life with the full bits taken out of it, yeah? Then dialogue should be treated the same. The role of the writer would be choosing which parts are important and then write them down, improving them.

[1] Conflict
Pleasant conversations are great in real life, even if nothing interesting gets said, who doesn't like chatting with a neighbor?

But listening on those conversations as a third party are as boring as ever, so make sure your reader isn't subject to a dialogue that can cause them to yawn.

To fix this, give the characters conflicting goals, one of them wants this and the other wants that. If doesn't have to end in a shouting match every time, but the underlying tension should cause the reader to keep reading.

Example:
"What are we having for dinner?" asked Jane.

Bill opened the fridge, shifted the milk to see to the back. "How does steak sound?"

"Sounds great."

"There's chicken if you prefer," he said.

"No, steak is fine. With mashed potatoes."

I just made myself hungry, look at that. Now, this is a perfect conversation for the real life, but hopeless for a novel. Add some conflict into the mix and it might look something like this...

"What are we having for dinner?" asked Jane.

Bill opened the fridge, shifted the milk to see to the back. "How does steak sound?"

"What, again?"

"We haven't had steak since last Saturday," he said.

"I know. And the Saturday before that and the one before that! Don't you ever want something different, Bill?"

Much more interesting, yeah? Now, of course, it's not terrible for your novel to have some everyday conversation. Just make sure all of it isn't boring.

[2] Purpose
Even if your novel's dialogue is juicy with conflict, you might still need to delete it if it's not serving any purpose for your story.

What kind of purpose? Try one of these:
•The dialogue moves the plot forward
•It deepens the reader's understanding of what makes the character special
•Provides important information

The conversation should have a reason for being there other than adding to the world count. You should either give it a reason for existing or cut it out, no matter how nice you think the writing is.

[3] Skip the Obviousness
Some writers tend to have too obvious conversations. It's best to skip the obvious conversation because the reader won't be interested in simple back-and-forth dialogue. A good way to do this would be to sidestep it with a question.

Example:
"Hello, Mary."

"Sylvia, I didn't see you."

"My that's a wonderful outfit you're wearing."

"Where is he, Sylvia?"

Hmmm, who is he? The reader would want to know so they would continue to read your story.

[a] Silence
Another good way to sidestep the obvious is to use silence. Make your characters ask a question and use body language or hesitation to answer the question. It adds detail to the book and makes you seem like a more professional author.

[4] Cut some Words
If the words don't need to be there, delete them. Simple as that. Some of those words could be very, yes, and no. It makes your book neater and can shorten the word count.