Writing—and reading—dialogue is one of my favorite things. I love how it allows the story to zip along, plus it makes me feel extra-smart because I read it so much faster than regular prose. I love how I can hear the characters’ voices in my head as though they are real people. I love how dialogue lets me feel like I’m right there in the scene with the characters, watching things unfold like a movie in my mind.
Writing dialogue is a fundamental and essential skill that writers need to develop, but first and foremost we need to consider why dialogue is important to storytelling. There are three primary reasons why dialogue matters.
(1) Grounding in a Scene
Dialogue grounds us in a scene and makes us feel like we are right there with the characters. It gives the scene verisimilitude, making it feel almost as though it’s really happening right in front of us. Dialogue puts us where the action is. Instead of being told what’s happening, we see the scene unfold as the events occur. Dialogue makes a scene feel real.
In addition, when we read dialogue we feel like we are part of the characters’ conversation, especially when we are in a first person or close third person point of view. In that type of point of view, it is as though we are inside a character’s head, so the dialogue feels almost participatory, like we are the character having that conversation. Ultimately, dialogue makes us feel like we’re part of a scene and like that scene is really happening.
Without dialogue, it would be that much harder to craft a compelling scene, and scenes are the fundamental building blocks that make up a story. Scenes are like a microcosm of a full story, and as such, they need to have the three basic elements that a full story must also have. These elements are: character, plot, and world.
If one of these elements are missing, we don’t have an actual story, nor do we have a true scene. If there is character but no plot or world, then what we have is a character sketch, not a story. If there’s a plot, without world or character, then what we really have is a newsreel. And a world without character or plot is a wonderful world building exercise, but again, not an actual story.
Like a story, a scene also requires all three of these elements, and dialogue—when done well—brings character, plot, and world into play. For starters, in order to have dialogue, you need to have characters present. Not only that, but great dialogue also grounds us in time and space, making us feel like we are in a specific place, watching the scene unfold. When written well, dialogue also helps to advance the plot and move the story forward. Unlike real-life dialogue, where people might make inane small talk, story dialogue exists to ratchet up tension and move the plot along.
(2) Showing Character
I’ve often talked about the TADA method and the four main ways of showing character. These are thoughts (T), action (A), dialogue (D), and appearance (A). When you do all four of these things… tada! You have a well-rounded character.
Dialogue is a fundamental way of showing your character and letting them come alive on the page. Without dialogue, we wouldn’t be able to hear the voices of the characters and we would be left with only description and narration at our disposal. This would make it all the more difficult to bring your characters to life and make them feel like real, three-dimensional people. Without dialogue, we are left without an essential tool that would otherwise help us bring our characters to life.
Dialogue also allows you to create subtext, which is when somebody says one thing but they mean another. Subtext is a powerful storytelling tool because it forces the reader to “read between the lines” and that draws the reader further into the story. When the reader has to make inferences and intuitive mental leaps, they become more engaged, which means they are more immersed in the narrative.
(3) Primary Layer of Voice
In addition to being a primary way of showing character, dialogue is also one of the primary layers of voice. You see, I believe that voice occurs in layers. At its most basic level, we have the voices of the characters in the story, and these voices come across in dialogue.
In addition to the characters’ voices, we also have the narrator’s voice, which operates almost like a frame or container, holding the story together. The narrator’s voice can be a character’s voice (like when you have a first person narration) but it can also be a third person entity, telling the story like an outside observer looking in.
Finally, you have the author’s voice, and this is that essence of voice that is the same from one book to the next. This is how we know when we’re reading a Jane Austen novel versus one by Stephen King. The voice of the author feels unique and specific to that one writer.
With this layered structure in mind, we realize just how important dialogue is. Dialogue allows us to hear the characters’ voices, so we can better understand who they are. Without the voices of the characters coming across in dialogue, the story would be pure narration, and while that can certainly work (think of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart) it can also feel a little hollow, as though the story is being told to us but we don’t really have a sense of the people in it.
Note: The Tell-Tale Heart works as a story made up almost entirely of narration because we are in a deep first person point of view. This point of view allows us to experience the protagonist’s thoughts, and those thoughts almost feel as though the narrator is having a conversation with himself. The story works as pure narration, but it’s a form of narration that allows us access into the character’s mind. In TADA terms, we may not have a whole lot of D, but the story makes up for it with a lot of T instead.
It’s Like Real-World Dialogue, Only Better
There are a lot of things we can do (and mistakes we should avoid) in order to write great dialogue. The most important thing, though, is to remember that story dialogue is not the same as real-world dialogue. The latter often has a rambling nature and goes off on random tangents, sometimes never to return. The truth is that story dialogue is like real-world dialogue, only without the boring parts.
Exercise: Go to a public place like a park or a cafe and sit near some people who are talking. Pull out a notebook (or computer) and start to write down verbatim everything those people say. (I know, I know, eavesdropping might be a little weird… but it’s in service of art! Plus, if their subject is something super-private, it’s their fault for talking about it in a public space.) Sit and take dictation for 5-10 minutes, then go back and reread.
My guess is that while there might be a great one-liner or two in there, the majority of the dialogue you captured will be unreadable. It will probably go off on weird tangents or change subjects randomly. There will likely be a lot of ums and ahs and other filler words that make the dialogue feel clunky. That’s normal. Real dialogue is not supposed to be polished like story dialogue.
The truth is, story dialogue flows smoothly in a way that real-world dialogue never does. It stays on point and doesn’t have a lot of fluff to it. Story dialogue is designed to develop the characters and also move the plot forward, so it has to be focused and purposeful. Real-world dialogue doesn’t need to do any of that so it can ramble on and on or loop around in circles.
As you think about writing dialogue, think about how you can make it smoother and more focused. Sure, in some cases the characters might talk around each other, but this is always done with a purpose—usually with an eye toward creating subtext or developing character in some way. Ultimately, dialogue is an important tool to have in your writer’s toolbox and it can accomplish many different things at the same time. Great dialogue advances the story but also deepens the characters, and sometimes uses subtext to pull the reader further into the story.
Until next time, keep writing and keep being awesome!
P.S. For more info on Gabriela Pereira, the founder and instigator of DIY MFA, check out her profile page.
