How To Write REALISTIC And SMOOTH Dialogue

How to Write REALISTIC and SMOOTH Dialogue

In a story, dialogue is quite important, it helps the readers paint a picture of what's happening and the characters themselves. However, it can be difficult to avoid the unnaturalness and choppiness that comes with a lack of experience. But luckily, I have put together A LOT of advice on how you can get over that rockiness and improve!

*** KEEPING YOUR DIALOGUE REALISTIC, AND PACING ***

>> Keep your characters in character:

Dialogue is a remarkably quick way for readers to determine your character's personality. Thus, you want their speech patterns to remain fairly consistent so the audience won't get confused. If your character is more serious, then they will use less slang and perhaps a more impressive vocabulary. If your character is more relaxed, they will use more slang and compress the words. (such as "dunno," "kay," "y'know," etc.)

Basically, you want their tone to match their traits so the way that they talk is more realistic and personlized to themselves. If the way all your characters speak is the same, there's something wrong. A strong tip is to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they would respond!

>> Take the situation into consideration:

This is another part of keeping your characters in, well, character. Different emotional situations will have a different effect on separate people, so make sure that you have an idea of how your character will act during stressful, irritating, and sad times.

If your character is normally cold, they will struggle if it comes to comforting other people because they have less experience in that field.

>> Don't take too long with their words:

Unlike when narrating something, most people talk just to get the idea across. They will be more specific and quicker with what they say. (This excludes any character who likes to talk a lot.) Unless it's on purpose, they won't dance around the topic. Think of when you casually chat with your friends; you're pretty unlikely to use certain words and/or phrases that might be common to use while narrating.

If you want to explain something complicated, instead of writing out a paragraph of just one person talking, use a question-and-answer prompt! This is where another character continuously asks related questions that get answered by another person, so you can indirectly reveal your explanation.

*** HOW TO WRITE A SMOOTHER CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE TAGS***

>> Having a variety of dialogue tags:

This is a pretty basic thing to look out for if you're new to writing conversations. Using words like "said," every other sentence can easily make it feel choppy and robotic. Instead, use words like "murmured," "smirked," etc. to paint some emotion into their words. Additionally, vary the location of the dialogue tags! They don't all have to go after the statement, you can include something in the beginning or even the middle, too!

Examples:

Beginning - She tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Middle - "Oh," he blinked, "I actually never thought about that."

End - "Wait up!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hands around.

>> Using no dialogue tags to create a smooth conversation:

Having too many tags can also overwhelm your reader--remember, sentence variety is a crucial part of writing--so you can always drop them if they're unneeded. This applies when your characters (two is the suggested amount) are talking back and forth in a pattern straightforward enough for the reader to understand who's talking without it having to be labeled.

Dropping dialogue tags in these moments can create a smoother atmosphere during the conversation because the reader only has to focus on the talking present.

*** USING SLANG, STUTTERS, FILLER WORDS, AND PAUSES ***

Human speech is often not perfect; when talking, we often make mistakes such as filler words, grammatically incorrect phrases, etc. Hence, for more natural-sounding dialogue, it's important to incorporate some of these.

>> Pauses and stutters:

When reading dialogue, we read it at a steady pace unless it's written otherwise. However, that steady pace can soon get too robotic and too smooth. Luckily, there are several ways to change this! You can use dialogue tags, (ex: she quickly spoke) commas, and ellipsis (...). These are often integrated when the character is hesitant, nervous, answering something, or when they need to admit something. The same idea applies to stutters--they're mainly used to demonstrate anxiousness, which can be found in varying situations.

>> Filler words and slang:

Filler words can really just be used where you see fit. They may be used in the situations I previously mentioned (because it shows someone stumbling over their words) but it's ultimately up to you!

Slang, just like everything else, should not be used too often, or it will seem forced and exaggerated. The point is to sound natural, and increasing amounts of repetitiveness can ruin it. It's also important to remember that in real life, our conversations move slower; when someone speaks, another person usually doesn't respond quite literally, right after. However, in writing, dialogue can actually often seem that way, which is why using tags and these imperfections of speech is pivotal for building a realistic conversation!

*** CONCLUSION ***

Lastly, a key point when writing dialogue is to ALWAYS read the conversations! Whether it be in your head or out loud, it can often help you catch anything that seems off! Additionally, like I mentioned at the very beginning, write dialogue from your character's perspective! Imagine yourself as them and how they/you would talk. Try to keep your dialogue tags, sentences, and word use varied to create a natural conversation!

If you were struggling before, I hope that this (extra) long guide was able to really offer you some insight and useful tips! If you read this far, thank you!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

FREE PALESTINE Fundraiser List

A digital painting of a Palestinian flag that fills the frame, waving in the wind.

(Update 7/7: Asks and new messages temporarily closed. However, the Tumblr users on this list are free to message me at any time.)

For campaigns with under 1000 donations, go here.

For more extensive campaign lists:

Operation Olive Branch

Gaza Funds

Vetted Gaza Evacuation Fundraiser list

Here's a list of fundraisers from Palestinians who have reached out to me. I'm not Palestinian, but to the best of my knowledge, all campaigns listed have been verified by Palestinians on Tumblr. This list updates daily, so be sure to check back. If you follow me, follow these folks too.

If you can't donate, reblog.

LAST UPDATED 9/22

Less than a fifth funded:

#91 The Al Tibi family @mahmoudeltibi1 Nearly 12K!

#140 The Sharif family @amnehsharif10 Nearly 10,100!

(Reblogged) The Atalla family @mohammed-atallah @atalah-mohammed

(Reblogged) The Hor family @salahaldinhor STAGNANT FOR 6 DAYS

(Reblogged) Amal's family @amlanqar

A fifth funded:

A quarter funded:

(Reblogged) The Shamaly family @familydeea Nearly 24,800!

#125 The Alostaz family @ahmed-ostaz @rehamjawad33 @momenalstaz Nearly 23,600!

#196 The Aburass family @sameraburass @samerpal Nearly 1/3 funded!

(Reblogged) Walaa's family @ahmed79ss Nearly 12,800!

A third funded:

#112 The Shorbaje family @tahanishorbaje2 @tahanibaby Nearly 19,600!

(Second on this list) The Ismaeel family @m0hammed1 @m0hammed2

#231 The Abushammaleh family @bshaeromars-blog

(Reblogged) Ahmed's family @ahmed-ziad Nearly 10,800!

(Reblogged) Zaen and Yehya @mohammedshehab111 @hyamshehabnew Nearly half funded!

Half funded:

(Reblogged) The Sami family @eyadeyadsblog Nearly 11,100!

(Reblogged) The Shehab family @fahedshehab-new @danashehab @yehyashehab Nearly 57K!

#151 The Khalaf family @mahmoudkhalafff Nearly 31,300!

Two thirds funded:

#152 The Shaqoura family @lailashaqoura

Three quarters funded:

(Reblogged) Amira's family @ameera-anq Nearly 30,200!

#212 The Aldeeb family @mohammedaldeeb Nearly 43K!

Nearly complete:

#179 Issam Aziz's mother @haifaaziz98 1802 TO GO!

#182 The Saftawi family @nadasaftawi 1206 TO GO!

#218 The Alnabih family @ahmedalnabeeh11 @ahmed-nabeeh32 3451 TO GO! No longer accepting donations

(Reblogged) Ashraf's family @ashraf-baker 1224 TO GO!

(Reblogged) Aya's family @ayaalanqarsblog @ayalanqar 1764 TO GO!

#174 The Alanqar family @mohammedalanqer 9737 TO GO!

Complete:

3K notes View Post

whoframedramadhego

11 months ago

Every time an Alastor redesign gets rid of his stupid fucking bob a star is born <3

16 notes View Post

whoframedramadhego

7 months ago

u can call ur skull-head deer oc literally anything else u don't even have to change the design

48K notes View Post

whoframedramadhego

8 months ago

Because I couldnt find a single post with ALL of the leaked Hazbin Hotel audition sheets, I made one my goshdang self.

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whoframedramadhego

1 year ago

If you were to write a thesis on Vivziepop, what would you write about?

I may unironically publish this legitimately. Not just some blog post online, just a genuine review of our failures in mental health, media education, and online echo chamber culture bred out of the #relateable content mill of apps like TikTok.

There's nuance to all of this. It's not a one finger pointing at Vivziepop necessarily. But an acknowledgment of how her rise as an artistic content creator directly correlated to multiple systemic failures of society in regards to mental and physical health, education, economics, social liberties, and civil and governmental unrest over the last decade.

The pandemic in specific played a massive role in her ability to cultivate a foothold in animation and media. The lack of new content from any major studios, as well as the accessibility granted through venues like social media, added with the government imposes isolation of quarantine and the desperation to connect through parasocial relationships are merely what pushed her over that last hurdle.

The ideal human condition is to create. And when placed in this ideal, this is what she created. Taking advantage of chaos, uncertainty, and insecurity, she dug through the dredges of the internet's most unstable and susceptible people to get to where she is. Combing for people desperate for attention, catharsis, and community. It's why the fanbase (and even the critics) mirrors many high-control religious groups in tone and behavior.

There's so much more I could go into in regards to philosophy and even theology on the matter. But maybe I should just write.

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whoframedramadhego

7 months ago

Internal conflict writing ideas

Not everything has to be fight scenes

—Losing something of emotional value and remembering its history and why it’s important to the character

—Reliving a traumatic event

—Running into an old friend who’s either completely changed since they’ve last seen each other or far too similar, leaving the character to wonder about how they’ve matured and grown compared to this other person

—Internally deciding if they should voice a fear or concern to the group, even if they might look silly or ridiculous doing so

—Friends vs family in terms of choosing who to follow and listen too

—Feeling unqualified to work on a project or be apart of the adventure

—Romantic feelings for someone they shouldn’t and dealing with how they should proceed internally. (THIS MEANS RIVALS OR FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. NOT ANYTHING ILLEGAL!!!)

—Thinking about mortality and death after being reminded of an late friend/family passing

—Being less talented at something years later when they used to be the best in that field

—Finding an old photo that carries much more emotional significance now than it did X years ago.

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whoframedramadhego

11 months ago

I haven't seen HB, but I reefer seeing that clip of Stella ordering a hit on dtolas while he was sitting across from her at the breakfast table and thinking "Oh my gosh! She's gonna be so fun!"

Because (at least to me, I know some people feel different) writing a horrible character can be really fun to watch and write at that level of absurdity.

I wanna see Stella taking carriage rides when Stolas isn't home in hopes that she'll see him on the street and get to run him over.

I wanna see Stella rent out a mall for Via's birthday to show him up, AND pay using Stolas' credit card

I wanna see Stella burning Stolas' expensive silk bedsheets and replacing them with wool or something he's allergic to. She won't burn his clothes because then he'll look bad next to her in press photos, so she hangs them up and has the servants fan the smoke over them so the smell sets in.

I wanna see Stella go to brunch with the girls and have them comfort her when the divorce goes public. Maybe one of them offers to get the poison that her grandmother used to assassinate *her* husband.

I wanna see Stella have a "Mother Knows Best" number @ Via where she talks about how Goetia girls are born to be bred, and how if Via's future husband disrespects her she should see it as a promise of what's to come, and learn from her mother's mistakes.

I wanna see her have a girl's night out, get to party and dress in ways she never could before, and in her newfound freedom she just decides to murder Stolas because it's what she wants.

I uh...really want to see her have good things while also unabashedly wanting to cut off her husband's head.

I wish Stella was your character and not Viv's.

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whoframedramadhego

9 months ago

hi. i made some images.