In a post on Writers in the Storm, Sandy Vaile offers advice on writing concise dialogue that sounds true to life. “Speech predates written language by tens of thousands of years and is ingrained in our daily lives, so use it to its full advantage to develop characters, advance the plot, increase pace and create tension,” she says. “When speech rambles unnecessarily, is overly stilted or sounds forced, readers are unlikely to connect with the characters and may even skim over the dialogue.”
According to Vaile, successful written conversation has three traits:
- It’s concise. Dialogue should be limited to what needs to be said to move the story forward. Your characters’ personalities should shine through, but resist the temptation to let them ramble. Keep dialect to a minimum.
- It’s authentic. Each character should have their own unique speaking style and their language should reveal character, how they feel, and what they want. You should also practice using subtext to convey what your character is thinking and how they feel in the moment. Avoid having characters talk to themselves, unless you have a good reason.
- It’s purposeful. Dialogue shouldn’t exist to fill space, but to communicate important information. Eliminate greetings and small talk.
