Most authors and their readers will agree that nothing beats a good bout of dialogue. Witty, poignant, romantic, angry—it’s all good. We all love it when characters open their big mouths and let fly. But creating good dialogue isn’t as easy as saying the first thing that pops to mind. Good dialogue is all about […]
January 25, 2012 by 33 Comments DialogueHow to Choose Between a Big Word and a Small Word
The debate between the worthiness of 25-cent words versus 100-dollar words is ongoing among authors. Some argue that simplicity is always best, if only because we can’t risk confusing readers with unfamiliar language. Others want to embrace the full scope of the English vocabulary and utilize impressive and specific big words. This is an argument […]
November 9, 2011 by 23 Comments DialogueAre Your Dialogue Beats Repetitious?
Even the most scintillating dialogue scenes require more than just dialogue to stay afloat. They need dialogue beats—and good ones at that. You must pad the characters’ speech with dialogue tags (he said, she whispered, etc.), internal narrative, and body language and action—otherwise known as action beats. Often dialogue beats will flow naturally from the […]
August 10, 2011 by 21 Comments DialogueAvoiding Info Dumps in Dialogue
Dialogue is one of the most exciting and fun bits to write in any story, not only because it gives you the opportunity to hear your characters speak, but also because it’s one of the prime breeding grounds for conflict. However, this only works if you’re avoiding info dumps in dialogue. The trick to good […]
March 16, 2011 by 37 Comments DialogueHow to Use Dialogue to Avoid Lengthy Info Dumps
Stories are about sharing information with readers. This information can be anything from the main character’s mysterious former life as a trapeze artist to something really technical, such as how to disarm a nuclear weapon… or in the case of Neal Stephenson’s science-fiction tome Anathem, heavy-duty mathematics and philosophy. The trick for any author is […]
March 14, 2011 by 6 Comments DialogueWant Fantastic Dialogue? Flee These 6 Fearsome Fillers
The oft-quoted recommendation to make your dialogue as realistic as possible is sometimes the worst advice imaginable. The next time you’re in a conversation—or, even better, eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation—draw back a bit and evaluate what you’re hearing. Those “ums,” “you knows,” and “so, likes…” that pepper our everyday speech may be realistic, but […]
November 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment DialogueSubtext in Dialogue: 5 Places Where Your Characters Should Stop Talking
Dialogue is all about getting things said—usually important things: “I am your father.” “You can’t handle the truth!” “To be or not to be, that is the question.” “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” We spend a lot of time polishing our dialogue and learning how to make […]
October 10, 2010 by 17 Comments Dialogue6 Ways You Can Use Dialogue in Your Story
Dialogue is one of the hardest-working components in fiction—but only if you take full advantage of it. It’s easy enough to make your characters talk to each other and even relatively easy enough to make what they say interesting to readers. But if interesting is the only burden your dialogue is carrying, it’s not doing […]
September 29, 2010 by 37 Comments DialogueDon’t Overuse Names in Dialogue
One of the biggest challenges for any writer is creating realistic dialogue. It’s surprisingly difficult to recreate the patterns and nuances of human conversation. If you can write ace dialogue, you’ll have agents, editors, and readers all clambering at your door. You can start by making sure you’re not falling into one of the most […]
September 22, 2010 by 32 Comments DialogueWhy Every Protagonist Needs a Dialogue Buddy
Although some successful novels feature lone-wolf characters who face the world and its challenges by themselves, clever authors will sidestep the pitfall of leaving a main character without someone to talk to for the majority of the book. Your protagonist’s fellow conversationalists can be varied and multitudinous over the course of the book—but usually, you’ll […]
