Not long ago a couple of my crit partners wrote that they found it hard to write dialogue. I have worked in theatre and taught playwriting classes, so I shared a few tips and exercises I use in my classes. Then I decided “Why not share with everyone?”
1. Develop Your Ear. One of the easiest ways to get a good feel for the ebb and flow of conversation is to listen. Forget what your mother told you and eavesdrop on conversations of perfect strangers. At the mall, in the grocery check-out line, take note of how people talk. I mean really—take notes. Write down conversations word for word if you can (it’s great cover for what you’re actually doing). Take your little scenes back home, read them over. Remember the people’s voices. Create characters out of them. Now take their conversation and make it into a scene. Who knows where this may lead?
2. Be a Watcher. Watch television programs and movies with great dialogue. I recommend Gray’s Anatomy, The West Wing, and Frazier for TV. For movies, Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, and From Hell (the development of Johnny Depp’s character through his dialogue is truly stunning). Listen for the rhythm, the imagery, the nuances the actors bring out in the dialogue.
3. Everybody’s Different. As you craft your dialogue, remember that each character should have his/her own unique voice. Think what subtle characteristics the characters have that can be brought out through dialogue. Do they curse? (Less is more where that’s concerned.) Do they use one particular word mostly? Do they use euphemisms? Do they speak in flowery phrases? Is there a certain phrase that they tack onto almost every sentence? In one of my WIPs, the sister of the hero, who I see as a bit scatterbrained, tags most of her sentences with “don’t you think?” Not often enough to be annoying, but enough to make that part of her character. People do these things in real life—make your characters real by using them.
BIGGEST TIP COMING UP!
4. Workshop. Playwrights do this to make sure their words will work in the actor’s mouths. Most sites with dialogue tips suggest you read your work aloud (which is a good tip, granted). Take it one step further. Host a Reading Party. Invite family, friends—they don’t have to be actors, just as long as they can read out loud. Then listen carefully as others read your work. Close your eyes if possible. Listen not only to how the dialogue sounds, but listen to how easily the words can be read. If the readers are stumbling over structure or difficult words it’s likely your silent readers will stumble too, in their heads. Do your words sound like the give and take of conversation? Words that look wonderful on the page sometimes sound clunky when read out loud. But if they ring true to your ear, you’ve achieved your goal.
5. Feedback. Let your readers help! At your party ask for feedback. Let them be crit partners of a different sort. Ask if anything felt stilted as they said the lines, or if they have any suggestions. You don’t have to take their advice, but you’ll have it if you need it.
These two websites have some of the same tips as above, but they have additional ones as well.
http://klsyed.com/2011/04/13/how-to-write-realistic-dialogue-guest-blogger/
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/2011/02/keeping-dialogue-real.html
Is dialogue a problem for you? Do you have specific tips that help you craft your dialogue? I’d love for you to share!
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 
Great post! My work tends to be dialog-heavy. I like giving characters personality through dialog and movement, but particularly dialog. I spent a number of years in the theater and I think I learned from that experience, too. Thanks for the reminder; it’s too easy to get sidetracked as one writes.
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Hi Jenna ~ I can never learn too much about writing dialogue. Nice post.
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Ooooh, nice post, Jenna. Fantastic tips!
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Thanks, Brenda. Hope they gave you some good ideas. Glad you stopped by.
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Dialogue is one of my strengths. Good tips!
As mentioned before, Soaps are a good place to learn dialogue.
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Yes, they are D’Ann. They are very much like plays and dependent on good dialogue. I watched them religiously when I was a teenager and into my 20s. Sadly, they seem to be dying off now.
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Thanks Jenna for the tips. I will usually practice my dialogue aloud which makes writing alone pretty important, lol. Although by now my family is used to my “pretend” dialogues.
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Yes, talking to yourself is best done privately! My family is also accustomed to hearing me reading from the ms. They have refused, however, to read the dialogue for me. 🙂
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Great post, Jenna. Realistic dialogue that tells the story and gives deeper meaning is the hardest to write. These practical tips are immediately useable. Thanks.
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I really hope this post is helpful. I’ve worked with dialogue a lot, so I’ve picked up a few pointers. I’m very happy to pass them along.
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Dialog is very powerful and can be used to convey quite a bit about a character. Yes, definitely eavesdrop! It’s amazing what you will learn. LOL
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Some really great scenes have come out of my playwriting class based on this assignment! Students have no compunctions about eavesdropping. After doing that exercise, you kind of want to look over your shoulder to make sure no one’s in earshot!
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Great post, Jenna! Another tip I’ve heard that’s good–dialogue should sound realistic, but shouldn’t always follow the structure of real-life dialogue. Often, social pleasantries can be glossed over if not adding anything to the story (historicals will need some of these instances, though, given the more courtly manners of the time), questions ignored, etc. Lol, I guess writing sentences of dialogue is basically like any other kind of sentence. It has to carry its own weight. If it’s not essential to character development, plot, or moving the story forward, it has to go.
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You’re absolutely right about dialogue vs. conversation, Lisa. Part II of this post will suggest ways to make dialogue have the purpose it needs to propel the story. Dialogue has its own Catch 22: in order to seem like real conversation, dialogue must be artificially produced to be realistic. Makes you crazy sometimes! 🙂
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