Dialogue is the most personal expression a character will often make to either another character, or the audience – without good dialogue a story will lack plot and this deficit will severely inhibit characterization.
Common Flaws In Writing Dialogue, and How to Improve
One of the most common errors made by novice writers with regards to dialogue is a predisposition to use certain verbs to the point of near-reliance. The most obvious example of this would be the word “said”. Look to the example following:
“Look, it's sunny outside today.” Sarah said.
“I know, I was up earlier this morning.” Leanne said.
While relying on a thesaurus may not be the best answer, learning synonyms for said and other words that can be used to show an imparting of information will be a great first step.
A second tip is to learn good placement and sentence structure. Often-times breaking up a piece of dialogue into two parts works best.
“I know,” Leanne mumbled, “I was up earlier this morning.”
And to really make that sentence shine and stand out, try substituting an action in the place of the describing verb, as it is patently obvious that this line is spoken rather than telepathically communicated.
“I know,” Leanne brushed a lazy hair away from her face, “I was up earlier this morning.”
We have taken a simple sentence that does nothing to create an image of Leanne, contains no body language, and relies on the facile usage of “said”, and turned it into a line that forces the audience imagination into attempting to visualize it – the brushing of a loose strand of hair away from Leanne's face. Had we described Leanne earlier, physically, we have given the audience mental stage directions – a lens through which to focus their imagination.
Researching and Exercising your Verbal Muscle
Here comes the fun part, observation! Most of the learning you will do as a writer will come from a marketplace of ideas, via the process of observation, internalization, and practice.
In media, some of the ideas for your fiction piece might come from television, film, or the internet. Director Quentin Tarantino is well known for his excellent dialogue, often realistic yet poetic and focussing on everything down to the minutae of any given concept. The Coen brothers are also an excellent source of inspiration with regards to writing realistic dialogue, their comedic offering of The Big Lebowski is considered by many to be an example of extremely witty and intelligent dialogue.
For epic, or fantasy/science fiction dialogue, traditional sword and sorcery film might aide you, as well as reading into classics. The Volsunga Saga, an Icelandic legendary saga, was written in the late 13th century and translated into modern English. It is an excellent example from which to derive terse, epic dialogue that bears resemblance to that of Robert E. Howard of Conan fame. In a more modern tone, the work of Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, or Carl Sagan might be more appropriate.
In the realm of romantic fiction, dialogue is often extremely expressive and erotic. While one might not advocate viewing outright pornography, well-written erotic fiction is probably the best source to observe and internalize better dialogue techniques. Remember that romantic fiction is almost exclusively set in the realm of human emotion, and as such dialogue can afford to be a fair bit more saccharine in this genre than in many others – depending on the circumstances of your particular narrative.
Remember, one learns with one part observation, one part practice – so be sure to keep the pen rolling and your mind sharp in order to improve your dialogue writing skills!
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Nicholas Morine - Nicholas Morine Bachelor of Arts, English Language & Literature Master of Philosophy, Humanities (Candidate) Memorial University ...
