Why Dialogue Matters
Great dialogue does more than convey information. It reveals character, advances plot, creates tension, and gives readers a reason to keep turning pages. When done well, dialogue is invisible—readers forget they're reading and feel like they're eavesdropping on real conversations.
When done poorly, dialogue pulls readers out of the story. Stilted exchanges, unrealistic speech patterns, and characters who all sound the same are among the fastest ways to lose a reader's trust.
The First Rule: People Don't Talk Like They Write
Real conversation is messy. People interrupt, trail off, change subjects, and rarely speak in complete sentences. Your dialogue shouldn't be a perfect transcript—that would be boring and hard to follow—but it should feel natural.
Stilted (Avoid This)
"I am going to the store to purchase some groceries for dinner tonight. Would you like to accompany me on this excursion?"
Natural (Aim for This)
"I'm running to the store. Need anything?"
Give Each Character a Unique Voice
Readers should be able to identify who's speaking even without dialogue tags. Voice comes from:
Vocabulary
A professor uses different words than a teenager. A soldier speaks differently than a poet. Consider education, profession, and personality. Does your character use jargon, slang, or formal language?
Sentence Structure
Some people speak in short, punchy sentences. Others meander through long, winding thoughts. An anxious character might speak in fragments. A confident one in declarations.
Verbal Tics
People have speech habits: pet phrases, filler words, ways of deflecting. Use sparingly—one or two distinctive patterns per character. Overuse becomes annoying.
What They Don't Say
A character's avoidances reveal as much as their words. Does someone never apologize? Never ask for help? Never say "I love you"? Silence is a choice.
Subtext: What's Not Being Said
In real life, people rarely say exactly what they mean. They hint, deflect, lie, and talk around difficult subjects. Great dialogue has layers—the surface meaning and the subtext beneath.
Example: A Couple Fighting
"You forgot to take out the trash again."
"I was going to do it after dinner."
"Like you were going to call the plumber?"
"That's not fair."
"I'm just saying."
They're not really fighting about trash. They're fighting about reliability, feeling unheard, and accumulated resentments. The subtext is the real story.
Ask yourself: What does each character want from this conversation? What are they afraid to say? What are they hiding? The gap between what's said and what's meant creates dramatic tension.
Dialogue Tags and Action Beats
"Said" is Your Friend
Readers' eyes skip over "said." It's invisible. Fancy alternatives like "exclaimed," "declared," "interjected," and "queried" draw attention to themselves. Use them sparingly, if at all.
Action Beats Over Tags
Instead of dialogue tags, use action beats to identify speakers and add visual interest:
Sarah slammed her coffee cup down. "I'm done waiting."
The action tells us who's speaking and how they feel without "said angrily."
Skip Tags When Possible
In two-person conversations, you often don't need tags at all once the rhythm is established. Just make sure readers can always track who's speaking.
Common Dialogue Mistakes
As-You-Know-Bob
"As you know, Bob, we've been partners for fifteen years..." Characters telling each other things they both already know is a clumsy way to deliver exposition. Find natural reasons for information to come up, or use other methods to convey background.
On-the-Nose Dialogue
"I'm angry because you betrayed me and now I can't trust you!" Real people don't announce their emotions so directly. Show feelings through what characters do and don't say, not through emotional declarations.
Phonetic Accents
"Ah dinnae ken whut ye mean" is exhausting to read. A light touch—word choice, rhythm, the occasional distinctive pronunciation—suggests an accent without creating a puzzle.
Talking Heads
Long stretches of pure dialogue without action, setting, or internal thought feel disembodied. Ground conversations in physical reality. Where are they? What are they doing while talking?
Dialogue Techniques That Work
Interruptions
Characters cutting each other off creates energy and reveals power dynamics. Use em-dashes to show interruption mid-sentence.
Non-Answers
Characters who don't answer questions directly are more interesting than those who do. Evasion, deflection, and changing the subject reveal character.
The Unexpected Response
When a character responds in an unexpected way, readers pay attention. "I'm leaving you." "Did you remember to water the plants?" The non-sequitur speaks volumes.
Silence
Sometimes the most powerful dialogue is no dialogue at all. A character who doesn't respond, who walks away, who simply stares—silence can hit harder than words.
The Read-Aloud Test
The best way to test dialogue is to read it aloud. Better yet, have someone else read it. You'll immediately hear what sounds natural and what clunks.
Listen for:
- Lines that are hard to say
- Rhythms that feel off
- Places where you stumble
- Moments that make you cringe
- Characters who all sound the same
If it sounds wrong spoken aloud, it will read wrong on the page.
Final Thoughts
Great dialogue is invisible dialogue—readers don't notice it because they're too absorbed in the conversation. It reveals character, advances plot, and creates the rhythm that pulls readers through your story.
Study dialogue in books you love. Watch how screenwriters handle conversations. Listen to how real people talk. And remember: the best dialogue isn't about what characters say. It's about what they mean.
