𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬

writing dialogue

Dialogue can really make or break your story, so you should know all the basics of it.

BASICS OF DIALOGUE

- new speaker, new line.

- dialogue goes in quotation marks. (",")

- dialogue tags (the he asked/she asked portions) stay outside the quotes and get separated by a comma.

- dialogue that ends in a question or exclamation mark, tags that follow start in lower case.

Example: "What did you do?" she asked.

- actions that occur before or after the dialogue go in a separate sentence.

- punctuation goes inside the quotes.

- if the dialogue ends with an ellipsis (...), do not add a comma or any other punctuation.

- if you have to quote something within the dialogue use single quotation marks (',').

- start a new paragraph every time you change speakers. If the speaker performs actions linked to the dialogue, keep everything in the same paragraph.

- if an action interrupts a sentence in the dialogue, use lower case on the first letter of the second fragment.

Example: "I know," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "what you said."

- commas go inside the quotes.

Dialogue is a special kind of conversation, it's a conversation with drama!

There are only two reasons to include dialogue.

1. It must contribute to telling the story. In other words, it needs to move the story forward.

2. Use it to develop characters.

In other words, if your dialogue doesn't advance the story or develop your characters, remove it from your story. Good dialogue achieves both.

- get rid of the tags.
Dialogue tags slow the reader. So remove as many as possible. Keep the tags to a minimum and your dialogue will flow.

- use gestures to add action.
Gestures reflect the characters' personality and mood. They also can add action, create conflict and inject suspense.

- use simple dialogue tags.
Let the characters' words speak for themselves.

- each speaker gets his or her own paragraph.
The reader should always know who's talking.

Does your dialogue have a purpose?

Here are some questions for you to check and see if your dialogue serves a purpose.

- will the story make sense if the dialogue is removed ? If it can be removed without leaving a missing link in the characters' journey towards his or her goal, scrap it.

- does the dialogue increase the suspense for what is to come? If a character says something which causes the reads to worry about the nature or the outcome of an upcoming event, it should stay.

- does it change the characters' situation, for better or for worse? Do they revive some good or bad news which leaves them closer to their goal or further away from it? If so, it is moving the plot forward.

- does the dialogue shed some light on whatever the character wants? Anything that makes a goal clearer is good and should remain - as should anything which makes their motives (or why they want to a give their goal) clearer.

- does it serve to strengthen the character's resolve, or perhaps weaken it? Are they told something which makes them wish they hadn't bothered to set out on this quest in the first place - or make them glad they did? Either one is good.

Overall, dialogue is pretty important. Make sure you put lots of though into what your characters say.

That's all for now! The next chapter will be about coming up with a title for your story!