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How to Write Strong Dialogue

(from a writer of ten years)

So you’re back in the writing trenches. You’re staring at your computer, or your phone, or your tablet, or your journal, and trying not to lose your mind. Because what comes after the first quotation mark? Nothing feels good.

Don’t worry, friend. I’m your friendly tumblr writing guide and I’m here to help you climb out of the pit of writing despair.

I’ve created a character specifically for this exercise. His name is Amos Alejandro III, but for now we’ll just call him Amos. He’s a thirty-something construction worker with a cat who hates him, and he’s just found out he has to go on a quest across the world to save his mother’s diner.

1.) Consider the Attitude and Characteristics of Your Character

One of the biggest struggles writers face when writing dialogue is keeping characters’ dialogue “in-character”.

You’re probably thinking, “but Sparrow, I’m the creator! None of the dialogue I write can be out of character because they’re my original characters!”

WRONG. (I’m hitting the very loud ‘incorrect’ buzzer in your head right now).

Yes, you created your characters. But you created them with specific characteristics and attitudes. For example, Amos lives alone, doesn’t enjoy talking too much, and isn’t a very scholarly person. So he’s probably not going to say something like “I suggest that we pursue the path of least resistance for this upcoming quest.” He’d most likely say, “I mean, I think the easiest route is pretty self-explanatory.”

Another example is a six-year-old girl saying, “Hi, Mr. Ice Cream Man, do you have chocolate sundaes?” instead of “Hewwo, Ice Cweam Man— Chocowate Sundaes?”

Please don’t put ‘w’s in the middle of your dialogue unless you have a very good and very specific reason. I will cry.

Yes, the girl is young, but she’s not going to talk like that. Most children know how to ask questions correctly, and the ‘w’ sound, while sometimes found in a young child’s speech, does not need to be written out. Children are human.

So, consider the attitude, characteristics, and age of your character when writing dialogue!

2.) Break Up Dialogue Length

If I’m reading a novel and I see an entire page of dialogue without any breaks, I’m sobbing. You’re not a 17th century author with endless punctuation. You’re in the 21st century and people don’t read in the same way they used to.

Break up your dialogue. Use long sentences. Use one word. Use commas, use paragraph breaks. Show a character throwing a chair out a window in between sentences.

For example:

“So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret receipt card, and bring it back before she goes out of business? She didn’t have any other copies? Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

vs.

Amos ran a hand over his face. “So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret recipe card, and bring it back before she goes out of business?”

He couldn’t believe his luck. That was sarcastic, of course. This was ironically horrible.

“She didn’t have any other copies?” He leaned forward over the table and frowned. “Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

The second version is easier to digest, and I got to add some fun description of thought and action into the scene! Readers get a taste of Amos’ character in the second scene, whereas in the first scene they only got what felt like a million words of dialogue.

3.) Don’t Overuse Dialogue Tags.

DON’T OVERUSE DIALOGUE TAGS. DON’T. DON’T DON’T DON’T.

If you don’t know what a dialogue tag is, it’s a word after a sentence of dialogue that attributes that dialogue to a specific character.

For example:

“Orange juice and chicken ramen are good,” he said.

‘Said’ functions as the dialogue tag in this sentence.

Dialogue tags are good. You don’t want to completely avoid them. (I used to pride myself on how I could write stories without any dialogue tags. Don’t do that.) Readers need to know who’s speaking. But overusing them, or overusing weird or unique tags, should be avoided.

Examples:

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said.

“Why?” Amos growled. “It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve lost the secret recipe card, and I can’t keep the diner open without it!” she cried.

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?” Amos questioned.

“Yes!” Amos’ mother screamed.

“Well, that’s not good,” Amos complained.

vs.

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said, taking her son’s hand and leading him over to one of the old, grease-stained tabletops with the ripped-fabric booths.

Amos simply stared at her as they moved. “Why? It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve—” she looked away for a moment, then took in a breath. “I’ve lost the secret recipe card. And I can’t keep the diner open without it.”

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?”

“Yes!” She still wouldn’t meet his eyes, and her shoulders were shaking. “Yes.”

Amos sat down heavily in the booth. “Well, that’s not good.”

The first scene only gives character names and dialogue tags. There are no actions and no descriptions. The second scene, however, gives these things. It gives the reader descriptions of the diner, the characters’ actions, and attitudes. Overusing dialogue tags gets boring fast, so add interest into your writing!

So! When you’re writing, consider the attitude of your character, vary dialogue length, and don’t overuse dialogue tags.

Now climb out of the pit of writing despair. Pick up your pen or computer. And write some good dialogue!

Best,

Sparrow

His rules must be obeyed

Art by Pandora 🌙

Gif edited by Dragon 🐉

@dragonwritersblog said—so I deliver

Sketching out some concepts for a dark fantasy/folklore AU I have coming down the pipeline. Arriving soon to an AO3 site near you! 👀

-

Also, huge thanks to @theboywithburninghands for the suggestion on making Kinger a mushroom man. I luff him 🥹 -

Lmk if ya’ll would like to see more of this, these ideas have been rattling around in my head for days 😭

(Also, peek my own TADC OC on the second page, who will also have a canon universe design 👁️✨)

Rina falsely accused @VAsonicmega/@SeanChiplock of grooming, Casper did lied about his age & Rina pressured me to talk about it before it became public

Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10acw96QhAq-YTKT92ck97QKOvf1KB9lzdBfsrQ24R64/edit?usp=sharing

SOME INFO ABOUT MY TADC AU!

(finally)

This world is a RPG-like game, mixed with a lot of violence! Button mash like battling! Mini games! A village where you can meet new people, and make new friends! Oh, and we can’t forget our heart theming, which we can find from EVERYWHERE and of ANYONE!

Our lovely characters from tadc, have been given personalised roles and bodies, through a test at the start of the game! (They are 99.9% randomised) And our lovely AI Game master Caine, has been given the lovely (extra) role of a bard!

Unlike in our canon story of the tadc, we join this new adventure with Jax the knight, being our new guy! He is no means completely different character though! He still is pretty much of a jerk, and no means a goodie, BUT he does get out of and in trouble easier for being the newbie!

What about Pomni then? No worries, my friends! She has gotten the new cool role of the coo coo crazy villain! Who is desperately trying to escape this digital hell, and breaking it at the same time! Causing the game get glitchier and glitchier, until our buddies have to go on an ADVENTURE and stop her!

(That’s pretty much the basics. I’m gonna share more info soon ((and drawings)) but if you guys are interested feel free to ask me questions. My ask’s should be open, and I’m interested if this has risen any questions :D)

Oh, and I almoust forgot! The characters! (Wip)

A buncha Bunnydoll's in a buncha AU's

Skyward Sword AU, Squid Game crack AU, Slasher AU, and Neohuman AU are all by yours truly :> Carnival AU by @sm-baby Ice Skating AU by @deduukkk And of course, the OG designs in the middle

I love the Yandere x Yandere trope. It's silly and high key toxic but in a way they're both like? So I guess it's technically not toxic, just incredibly unhealthy.

Some doodles and mini facts about Au ⛸️

I don't support Jax's action in any way 🙅‍♂️