Between Friends or Enemies

As writers, we want to engage our readers quickly and consistently throughout the work. We want our readers to become emotionally invested with believable characters, especially if we write a series.

Even if we write stand alones, though, we need to grab the readers' attention. Dialogue establishes character, reveals conflict, and livens an otherwise boringly descriptive scene, so let's take a moment to study dialogue tips.

NowNovel shares 10 tips for creating dialogue. I'll focus on four, but check out NowNovel for more ideas.

1. Use disagreement to add spark and interest.

Even best friends argue. Good-naturedly, we hope, but no two people ever agree completely. If real people argue sometimes, our characters should as well. In my novel On the Brink, two sisters argue repeatedly about one's friendship with a man. These young women happen to be in the colonial Pennsylvania wilderness, far from civilization, and the man happens to be a Native, Shawnee. Lucy recognizes the family would not, and will not, survive without the Indians' help, but Bec only sees her own fear and prejudice. If the sisters didn't argue occasionally, the story would be missing a key conflict. More importantly, though, is the way dialogue between them gives us insight into their characters.

2. Use dialogue tags sparingly.

When a scene involves more than two people, you'll need to use dialogue tags such as "he said" and "she said." Some authors will advise you to avoid synonyms for said, such as bellowed, hissed, echoed, and quipped. Brian Wasko of writeathome writes, "Frankly, I don’t like creative dialogue tags. I like them boring and inconspicuous. In most cases, I prefer said and asked — if any dialogue tag is necessary at all." That's the key: we want dialogue tags to be inconspicuous. If only two characters are in the scene, you may be able to use the tags at the outset and then leave them out; if it's simply back and forth, the reader can keep up, especially if each character has their own voice. That leads to the next tip.

3. Give each character a unique voice.

Twice in On the Brink two characters (Lucy and Bec and later Lucy and William) are having an intense conversation. I introduce the setting of the conversation (in the clearing by the waterfall, late at night by the fire), and then I cut to a new chapter. In that chapter, which is just dialogue and therefore short, I've gotten rid of the tags and also given each character his or her own font. (We'll have to wait and see what a publisher has to say.) Even if the publisher wants a consistent font, however, the characters are real enough that you can follow who is speaking. Lucy's voice is bitter, slightly dead, as she explains the abuse to her younger sister, and Bec's voice is anxious, worried, (when I hear it in my head) high-pitched as she tries to talk Lucy, literally, off the edge. I also utilize the next tip in those scenes as well.

4. Use silence as part of the dialogue.

Chances are good that the last time you had a conversation of any length with a friend, there were moments of silence. It's natural. One topic has been discussed to its organic end, and there's a pause before someone introduces the next topic. That's not what happens with Bec and Lucy, however. In the above conversation, Bec is understandably shocked that their father has sexually abused her sister. There are no words to express what she feels, and so I don't fill them in. I even leave physical space in the format. Again, we'll have to see what a publisher says, but I like the way it looks; to me it's a piece of visual art to accompany the literary art.

Dialogue is meant to convey character traits, introduce plot points, and demonstrate conflict between characters. Instead of a paragraph of narration, the characters can reveal to us what the author wants us to know. As with all areas of writing, though, there is a right way and a better way to construct dialogue. The next time you're at a coffee shop or the laundry mat, observe the natural conversations of the people around you and strive to imitate that in your writing.