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Description

While some authors may talk about how their writing is all talent and a gift from The Powers That Be, the truth is anyone can do a great deal to improve their writing. One effective way is through working on your dialogue.

Fan fiction can be particularly bad about this, but God-awful dialogue can be found just about anywhere, from popular books to comics to television. Bad dialogue often happens when people lose sight of reality and get hung up in the information or message they’re trying to get their character to communicate. Good dialogue is a natural reflection of the characters and the world, is easy on the ears/eyes and moves the plot forward in one way or another.

Tips for Improving Your Dialogue:

1. Listen

Yep, just listen. Next time you’re on a bus or waiting at a restaurant, take a moment and listen to the conversations around you. Listen to the rhythm, the accents, the grammar people use in daily life. Good dialogue sounds natural. Bad dialog doesn’t: How often do you hear something like this coming from two high school girls in real life?

Alice: “Oh, so it was you who took my diary and told Jason, the boy I’m in love with, that I love him?”
Katy: “Yes, because you told the boy I liked last year that I liked him and so now I’m going to get you back!”

Compare that conversation with this one:

Alice:“You took my diary? You told Jason how I felt?!”
Katy: “Yeah.”
Alice: “Oh, Christ, this is about Kevin, isn’t it?”
Katy: “Now you know how it feels.”
Alice: “Katy, that was last year! I didn’t mean to tell Kevin you liked him… it just slipped out!”
Katy:”Uh-huh. Well, now Jason knows about you.”

The second one should flow better and sound more natural for two high school girls having an argument: it’s shorter and more natural.

2. Don’t Listen

Remember, watching and listening to scripted TV, anime, movies or reading books doesn’t count because those are all artificially-created examples of dialogue (unless the author is really gifted with dialogue and you want to learn from example). You want natural, fluid conversation.

3. Pay Attention to Setting

If you’re writing high fantasy or something that requires formal, archaic language, do research and read as much as you can of first-hand accounts like letters, speeches, and histories recorded during a similar time or place in Earth’s history to help you get a feel for that kind of speech. Remember also that language used in high court by a king and the language he uses if he drops his crown on his foot are not likely to be the same level of formality. Your dialogue should still resemble a living language used by living people, not a conversational version of an epic poem.

4. Develop The Language

If your piece is set in a fantasy or sci-fi world, adding the occasional invented word can add spice to your dialogue and help the world feel more fleshed-out. Remember, though, that dialogue exists, like just about everything, to keep the story moving. The story does not exist to frame dialogue. So don’t get too carried away with naming things or explaining names. Remember the old rule of “Show, don’t tell!” most of the time.

A bad example (especially if several words per page are explained this way): “Hope we don’t see any Wormbreed,” his guide muttered darkly, referring to the large dragons that roamed across the hinterlands and ate whole farms and towns at a time.

A good one for the same situation: Notice how it seems less like a lecture and more like, well, conversation!

“Hope we don’t see any Wormbreed,” the guide said, hoisting his pack over his shoulder.
“What are those?”
“Giant dragons out here. Eat just about anything when they’re in the mood... Whole towns, farms.”
“Oh.” He did his best to look nonchalant.

5. Remember To Stay Focused

Writing a piece of fiction is like putting on a play. Nothing goes out onstage that doesn’t serve a purpose, and dialogue is the same way. In the above fantasy example, the purpose of the dialogue is to teach the reader what a Wormbreed is, so that when the characters see one later the reader has an idea of why they’re so terrified. It also shows us our main character is a little scared.

In the high school girl example, the dialogue’s purpose is to show how mad Katy is with Alice and what kind of character she is (petty, vengeful), beyond the surface usefulness of presenting the conflict of Love Interest Jason knowing Alice likes him.

6. Read it Aloud

The final litmus test is reading your characters’ conversation aloud. Take a break from the piece for at least an hour and then come back and read it aloud to yourself. You’ll notice if it drags or seems unnatural.

And that’s it! Best of luck with your dialogue and feel free to ask questions if I wasn’t too clear anywhere. I’m thinking of doing a short series of tutorials like this on how to improve your writing, so please also let me know if you’d like to see more. Thanks for reading!

;) (Wink) — Description

While some authors may talk about how their writing is all talent and a gift from The Powers That Be, the truth is anyone can do a great deal to improve their writing. One effective way is through working on your dialogue.

Fan fiction can be particularly bad about this, but God-awful dialogue can be found just about anywhere, from popular books to comics to television. Bad dialogue often happens when people lose sight of reality and get hung up in the information or message they’re trying to get their character to communicate. Good dialogue is a natural reflection of the characters and the world, is easy on the ears/eyes and moves the plot forward in one way or another.

Tips for Improving Your Dialogue:

1. Listen

Yep, just listen. Next time you’re on a bus or waiting at a restaurant, take a moment and listen to the conversations around you. Listen to the rhythm, the accents, the grammar people use in daily life. Good dialogue sounds natural. Bad dialog doesn’t: How often do you hear something like this coming from two high school girls in real life?

Alice: “Oh, so it was you who took my diary and told Jason, the boy I’m in love with, that I love him?”
Katy: “Yes, because you told the boy I liked last year that I liked him and so now I’m going to get you back!”

Compare that conversation with this one:

Alice:“You took my diary? You told Jason how I felt?!”
Katy: “Yeah.”
Alice: “Oh, Christ, this is about Kevin, isn’t it?”
Katy: “Now you know how it feels.”
Alice: “Katy, that was last year! I didn’t mean to tell Kevin you liked him… it just slipped out!”
Katy:”Uh-huh. Well, now Jason knows about you.”

The second one should flow better and sound more natural for two high school girls having an argument: it’s shorter and more natural.

2. Don’t Listen

Remember, watching and listening to scripted TV, anime, movies or reading books doesn’t count because those are all artificially-created examples of dialogue (unless the author is really gifted with dialogue and you want to learn from example). You want natural, fluid conversation.

3. Pay Attention to Setting

If you’re writing high fantasy or something that requires formal, archaic language, do research and read as much as you can of first-hand accounts like letters, speeches, and histories recorded during a similar time or place in Earth’s history to help you get a feel for that kind of speech. Remember also that language used in high court by a king and the language he uses if he drops his crown on his foot are not likely to be the same level of formality. Your dialogue should still resemble a living language used by living people, not a conversational version of an epic poem.

4. Develop The Language

If your piece is set in a fantasy or sci-fi world, adding the occasional invented word can add spice to your dialogue and help the world feel more fleshed-out. Remember, though, that dialogue exists, like just about everything, to keep the story moving. The story does not exist to frame dialogue. So don’t get too carried away with naming things or explaining names. Remember the old rule of “Show, don’t tell!” most of the time.

A bad example (especially if several words per page are explained this way): “Hope we don’t see any Wormbreed,” his guide muttered darkly, referring to the large dragons that roamed across the hinterlands and ate whole farms and towns at a time.

A good one for the same situation: Notice how it seems less like a lecture and more like, well, conversation!

“Hope we don’t see any Wormbreed,” the guide said, hoisting his pack over his shoulder.
“What are those?”
“Giant dragons out here. Eat just about anything when they’re in the mood... Whole towns, farms.”
“Oh.” He did his best to look nonchalant.

5. Remember To Stay Focused

Writing a piece of fiction is like putting on a play. Nothing goes out onstage that doesn’t serve a purpose, and dialogue is the same way. In the above fantasy example, the purpose of the dialogue is to teach the reader what a Wormbreed is, so that when the characters see one later the reader has an idea of why they’re so terrified. It also shows us our main character is a little scared.

In the high school girl example, the dialogue’s purpose is to show how mad Katy is with Alice and what kind of character she is (petty, vengeful), beyond the surface usefulness of presenting the conflict of Love Interest Jason knowing Alice likes him.

6. Read it Aloud

The final litmus test is reading your characters’ conversation aloud. Take a break from the piece for at least an hour and then come back and read it aloud to yourself. You’ll notice if it drags or seems unnatural.

And that’s it! Best of luck with your dialogue and feel free to ask questions if I wasn’t too clear anywhere. I’m thinking of doing a short series of tutorials like this on how to improve your writing, so please also let me know if you’d like to see more. Thanks for reading!