Written by: Suzanne Lieurance, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
If you write fiction, dialogue is an important part of any story you write. It breathes life into your characters, drives the plot, and pulls in readers on an emotional level. And powerful and believable dialogue can transform an average story into an amazing one.
Here are 10 tips to help you write more powerful, more believable dialogue
Tip no 1. Know your characters
You need to know your characters really well before you start trying to write words for them to say. And you don’t want your characters to all sound alike. Each one should have a unique voice, personality, and background that determines their speech patterns. Consider each character’s age, education level, cultural background, and experiences.
This will help you create dialogue that is authentic and true to that character's identity, making it more believable and relatable to readers.
Tip no 2. Use Dialogue to reveal emotions and motivations
Dialogue can be a powerful tool to convey emotions and motivations. Instead of telling readers what a character is feeling, try showing them through your characters’ words. Use subtext, body language, and tone to imply hidden feelings and add depth to the conversation. This adds layers of complexity to the characters and makes the dialogue more engaging.
Tip no 3. Keep the dialogue realistic, but not too real
Dialogue should sound authentic, but it doesn’t have to include the pauses, filler words, and digressions of real speech that would bore readers. Weed out those dull elements but keep the natural flow and rhythm of speech. Make the dialogue concise and purposeful and be sure it drives the story forward or reveals essential information.
Tip no.4. Balance dialogue tags and action beats
Dialogue tags, such as "he said" or "she asked", help readers keep track of who is speaking. But excessive use of tags can become monotonous. Mix it up with action beats—physical actions or movements—that show who is speaking without explicitly stating it. This not only adds variety but also makes a scene more vivid and dynamic.
Also, vary the placement of the tags for smoother writing. For example, read the dialogue aloud to see if the tag sounds better before the dialogue, in the middle of the dialogue, or at the end of it. Your story will sound better if not every tag comes at the beginning or the end of the dialogue.
Tip no 5. Listen to real conversations
Pay attention to how people talk in real life. Observe the cadence, vocabulary, and idiosyncrasies of speech. Listen to different accents and dialects, as they can add authenticity to your dialogue, especially when writing diverse characters—but don’t go overboard with this and make it difficult for readers to understand what is being said.
Tip no 6. Avoid exposition in dialogue
While dialogue is an excellent way to reveal information, you don’t want to use it as an “information dump.” Forced explanations in dialogue can feel unnatural and disrupt the flow of the story. Instead, integrate important information into the story through action, internal thoughts, or other narrative techniques.
Tip no 7. Use slang and jargon sparingly
Slang and jargon can enhance a character's authenticity, especially in contemporary or genre-specific settings. But use them sparingly and make sure they are understandable in context. Overusing slang or jargon may alienate readers or make the dialogue feel outdated in the future.
Tip no 8. Use dialogue to show conflict and tension
Dialogue becomes more powerful when it carries an underlying sense of conflict and tension. Even in casual conversations, characters should have objectives, and their interactions should have stakes. This helps keep readers interested and the story moving forward.
Tip no 9. Show different perspectives
Dialogue can be an excellent tool for exploring different viewpoints and ideologies. Through conversations between characters with contrasting beliefs, readers gain insights into their personalities and the themes of the story.
Be respectful and empathetic while representing different perspectives, though, so they contribute to the story's richness rather than promote stereotypes.
Tip no 10. Read aloud and edit
Read your story aloud to yourself or someone else to see if the dialogue rings true and moves the story forward. This will also help you identify awkward phrasing, unnatural language, or areas that need improvement. Edit and revise as needed, so the dialogue flows smoothly and aligns with your characters' voices and the overall story.
Powerful, believable dialogue is crucial to any work of fiction.
By using these tips, you can breathe life into your characters, captivate your readers, and elevate your storytelling to new heights.
Suzanne Lieurance, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Suzanne Lieurance is an award-winning author, freelance writer, ghost writer, writing coach, speaker, online content creator, and CEO of WritebytheSea.com. She has written over 40 published books and her articles and stories have appeared in various magazines, newsletters, and newspapers, such as Family Fun, Instructor, New Moon for Girls, KC Weddings, The Journal of Reading, and Children’s Writer to name a few. Her mission as a coach is to help those with a passion for writing become the writers they’ve always wanted to be.
