Dan’s Writing Blog

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When you have finished reading this article, you will have a good idea on how to write believable dialogue and know when you can break the rules.

Effective dialog is essential as a main part of the story. Good dialog moves the story forward whiles it brings life to the characters. Dialog engages readers while you breathe life into your characters.

Per the Encarta World English Dictionary, dialog is defined as “the words spoken by characters in a book… or a section of a work that contains spoken words.

Dialogue has several functions:

♥ To express through conversations what the reader must know so they can understand the character’s actions, motivations and thoughts.

To convey character that will reveal the lives of people in the story.

♥ To give the reader a sense of time and place through speech patterns, dialect, vocabulary and rhythms of certain kinds of people.

And, lastly, it develops conflict.

The secrets of writing effective dialog is writing a good flow of conversation. People don’t use good grammar in informal courses of speech; in print, it will make dry reading. Dialog should flow as easily as listening to a conversation between two old women.

Follow these simple guidelines.

Spoken words are sometimes incomplete sentences.

♥ People don’t always speak with proper grammar.

♥ Use words and word patterns that reveal your character’s age, gender, region, ethnicity and/or historical time period.

Give your characters individuality with their choice of grammar.

Write dialog just the same as what you would hear in real life conversations. Unlike real life, too much dialog is distracting. Keep it simple to over being over zealous.

Let’s take a peek at the scene in Gone With the Wind, where Miss Scarlett and Mammy are talking.

Mammy’s tone became wheedling.

“Now, Miss Scarlett, you be good an’ come eat jes’a lil. Miss Carreen an’ Miss Suellen done eat all dey’n.”

When you watch this kind of scene in a movie, it is one thing, but when a reader has to wade through pages of it, it’s altogether another. Just try to read “Brer Rabbit” (or some other equally hard dialog)!

More often than not, this kind of written language will not succeed; save it for the experienced authors. For example, an Irish brogue is a monster to read. Keeping your dialog simple makes thankful readers.

Although people do talk for hours on end without stopping to admire scenery, it won’t work that way in writing dialog. Generally speaking, for every three or four paragraphs of dialog, insert a break of scenery or setting.

Use good tase when you choose the words for dialog. Don’t use long scenes with people arguing; this is one way that dialog can be overbearing. Learning to write believable dialog takes time.

To write believable dialogue, sit in train stations, buses, or a restaurant and listen to people talk. Take notes when you can (but you better not let them see you do it).