How to Write Dialogue: Six Ways to Use it Effectively
There are six good reasons to use dialogue in fiction writing, and all six are equally important. As a publisher and a writer, a person needs to be aware of good dialogue. The publisher must know when dialogue works and when it doesn't. Knowing how to write dialogue is important if you want to write a book.
Dialogue is a tool used by writers to advance the plot, to develop character, to show conflict, to impart information to the reader succinctly, to set the mood for the scene, and to make the reader a part of the action.
Most mystery writers are masters at using dialogue to advance the plot. For example, the following dialogue tells the reader a lot about where the story is going.
"I ain't no snitch."
"Twenty says that you know where Chantelle went and why". Detective Sam Brown waved a crisp bill under Marty's nose. He knew Marty's weaknesses all too well. In some ways, he could've been Marty.
"Twenty. Could buy a lot of wine."
"That twenty could get me killed." Marty wiped his nose on a ragged sleeve. His dark brown eyes showed fear.
"You'd want someone to help your sister." Sam winced as his feeble attempt to drag information from the dirty wino. Marty was right. It would probably get the man killed just talking to him. He hated this part of his job, but the bad guys have no rules. But he did. He followed them as best he could.
Marty squinted at an empty wine bottle in the Gutter. He licked his lips. "Ain't got a sister."
"Your brother, then. If someone had helped us, we could've saved him." That much was true. Sam pushed the picture from his mind of a fifteen-year-old kid bound, gagged, and shot. It wasn't until his jaw hurt that he realized how tense the memory still made him. An unsolved case. Frustrating. Sam hated to lose. "Your brother was a great kid."
"Yep." Marty nudged the bottle with his dirty, oversized sneaker. Tears ran down his cheeks and left pale tracks. "Good baseball player. Could've been somebody."
"You could've helped your brother." He hated to remind Marty of another failure, but . . . Sam held the bill at eye level for Marty.
Marty snatched the twenty. "Your little police lady went a waltzin' in where she shouldn't. Try the apartment above Clancy's Bar."
Damn! I knew she was crazy, but this? Sam reached for his radio. He'd need help on this one. Even he was afraid of the goons that lived above Clancy's Bar.
 The dialogue shows the socio-economic class of the two characters via their speech patterns. We also learn that one person is a detective, the other a down and out wino whose brother was killed. We know that a police woman named Chantelle is in trouble. This piece of dialogue advances the plot, pulls the reader into the action, shows conflict, sets the mood for the scene, and helps to develop the characters - even Chantelle who isn't present. We could surmise that Chantelle is black because of the name the same way we would recognize Tony as Italian or Murphy as Irish. The writer has provided succinct information. In the middle of descriptive passages, dialogue can be used to break up the pace for the reader.
Dialogue is a workhorse and must be treated as such. If it does nothing more than to advance the plot, that's good. It's better if it can do more. Dialogue should not be used to build a bigger word count.
Readers like to be part of the action and dialogue can help create this feeling. Most of what we learn is by listening to others talk. In this country, we put people in class categories by their speech patterns and their jobs. We've become accustomed to this and are good at it. Dialogue allows the reader to eavesdrop on the characters in the story. Make it worth their while.
Writing dialogue with conflict
Whenever a writer has a story that is flat and dull, it can be fixed with conflict. Conflict in dialogue is one way to beef up a tale. There is external conflict, which means that something outside the character creates a problem for that character. For Sam, the detective, it's the fact that Marty, the wino, doesn't want to talk. For Marty it's Sam's insistence that he tells what Sam wants to know. Marty's internal conflict deals with the need for the twenty dollars, but he is afraid of the death threat.
Conflict in dialogue can be argumentative or agonizing. It can be anything the creative writer wants it to be. Inner conflict can be likened to a dialogue with oneself. Since we're not in Marty's point of view, tag lines that show his behavior are used. Do we know what Marty is probably thinking when he nudges the bottle with his foot? When he cries?
We learn something about Sam's character, too, through his inner conflict. We discover his philosophy, his failures, his arguments with himself, some of what happened to Marty's brother.
External conflict is created outside the character. Here the external conflict is layered. On one level, the detective demands information. On another level, the wino has been threatened, and he knows snitching will probably get him killed.
Writing good dialogue sets the mood
Good dialogue sets the mood for the scene. The reader is primed for the action that follows. It also gives the reader the illusion of reality. However, dialogue is not filled with the stammers and half sentences that grace our everyday informal speech. Writers must develop concise dialogue that moves the story forward. Characters can be developed through dialogue - either their own or with other characters who discuss them. The trick is to let the reader know whether or not the person who is talking is a reliable source. A character who dislikes your heroine had better be in the enemy camp. If not, the reader will be confused about the goodness of the heroine.
Where to study dialogue
The best place to study dialogue is in plays. Shakespeare was a master at dialogue. Remember, he was a contemporary writer of his time and wrote for the common people. Learn to listen to the everyday speech of people, then contrast that with a good play or movie. If you have a favorite movie, use a DVD to repeat the parts you like the best. Is there dialogue? What makes the dialogue good? Can you find the different ways the playwright used dialogue to carry the story along? To develop the characters? To give us bare-bones information? What about your favorite author? Which sections with dialogue got your attention? Analyze the various authors you like to read. What about their dialogue is brilliant?
How can you make certain your dialogue is good? One way is to read it aloud. Nothing hurts more than hearing one's own poorly turned phrase.
Realism in your writing does not mean you have to copy life. You don't have to write with Aums and half sentences. It's not reality that you're after B it's the illusion of reality.
Remember, dialogue will work doubly hard for you once you've conquered it. The secret to conquering dialogue is to know the rules and to know when to break the rules.
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