How do I Handle Character Dialogue?

Whenever I’m considering whether I’m going to buy a new novel, I’ll open to a few random pages and look for some dialogue. Generally, if I can’t find any dialogue at all, I put the book back down, as I’m not really interested in books that don’t show any social interactions. If I do find some conversations, I’ll look for warning signs of bad writing. Info-dumps, stilted dialogue, copious use of swearing… if I find any of these in abundance, I can be pretty sure that the story would not be one that I’d enjoy.

Dialogue between characters is one of the most engaging forms of storytelling we have. It’s highly effective at breaking down complex conflicts and ideas into digestible bites and gives life to an otherwise faceless cast of characters. But many writers struggle when giving voice to the people in their stories, and I’ve certainly had my share of difficulty in that regard. Still, I feel like I’ve gained a fair bit of insight as I’ve developed my dialogue-writing skills, and I’d like to share some of the more important lessons that I’ve learned.

Don’t get hung up on dialogue tags.

I’ve known many writers who obsess over finding synonyms for the word “said”. They seem convinced that the reader will toss their book away in derision if “said” is said once too often (joke intended). Perhaps it’s because I got my start by writing for the theater, but I don’t worry about dialogue tags. In a script, each line is designated by a character name and a colon afterwards. This quickly conveys the only essential information we need, namely, who is speaking. If you’re really concerned about overusing dialogue tags, you can use tricks like skipping several tags in a conversation between two people or using descriptions of body language to identify who is speaking. Just remember that the reader will likely be focusing on what a character is saying rather than the mechanics of how you identify the speaker.

People are going to sound similar.

Much like dialogue tags, some writers fixate on trying to make all their characters sound like distinct, different people. While this is a commendable goal, at some point an author needs to accept that many of his characters will sound similar, and that’s ok. Trying to make everyone feel totally different is like trying to write a plot that no-one has ever heard before, it’s amazing if you can do it, but it isn’t necessary to telling a great story. Better to focus on a few key characters and give them distinct voices and phrases to set them apart from what the average person in your story sounds like.

Not every line has to serve the main plot.

While you should definitely consider cutting or changing an entire scene that doesn’t contribute to the storyline, not every statement made by a character has to be directly tied to the hero’s journey. Sometimes the reader needs a break. Sometimes a few lines of dialogue is the ‘flavor text’ of a story, not essential, but colorful and entertaining. Funny interludes, character studies, and brief heart-to-hearts all have their place within the overarching narrative.

Avoid writing business meetings.

While dialogue is a great way to consolidate plot information and facilitate action, anyone who has been in a long business meeting knows that sometimes lots of talking can result in nothing but numb rear ends. The same is true for fictional business meetings. Any time you have a large group of characters sitting around talking about their situation for pages (I’ve even seen meetings that lasted multiple chapters!) without doing anything, you run the risk of losing your reader. Keep focused, and keep the number of conversationalists to a manageable level.

Major thanks to Derek from my Guild of Adventurers for suggesting this week's subject!