How to Write Good Dialogue That Sounds Real: Part One

 How to Write Good Dialogue That Sounds Real: Part One

Hello my fellow writers! If you’re anything like me, then you love it when the book you’re reading has characters that get into a back-and-forth argument with each other, with fun banter and sometimes serious lines.

But, how do you write that? And, most importantly, how do you make sure that your dialogue sounds like… actual people?

I’ll be going over some stuff to avoid and ways to make your dialogue snappy, dramatic, or whatever it is you’re going for. I will also be providing an example for each thing.

Of course, since this is Part One, we will be covering only two things in this part… I will try to keep it to 2-4 parts, but I have no idea how long this subject of dialogue will be…

“As you know, Bob…” 

This is also known as exposition-heavy dialogue. A character will ask a question about something, and the other character will reply with, “As you know…” 

It’s basically a way to throw in some exposition, even though your character should already know this: it is literally stated that they know. Here is an example of what not to do when it comes to this.

Helena frowned at the deep gouge marks in the oak tree’s wood. “What caused this?” She asked Scott, shivering as the cold wind bit at her through her thick cloak, and she clutched her notepad a little closer to herself.

Scott adjusted his flat cap on his dark hair. “As you already know, the foxfey are quite the mean-spirited fey around here, what with the string of murders that had occurred a little over a week ago. It is what we’re investigating, after all.” 

Helena should know this: she is one of the people investigating. As a writer, you want to immerse people in your story, and throwing in exposition-heavy dialogue is not the way to do that. You don’t want to have too much exposition at the beginning either way, worldbuilding or dialogue wise.

A different thing you can do is something like this: dropping little clues about the world instead of through “As you know, Bob.”

Helena frowned at the deep gouge marks in the oak tree’s wood. This was the third tree that had markings like this, near to the crime scene. A chill nipped at her fingers, cold from clutching a pen and notepad, full of her scribbled notes.

Scott adjusted his flat cap on his unruly dark hair. “Think it’s another foxfey?” He asked her, circling the tree and studying the marks with squinted eyes.

“Maybe.” Helena stepped closer to the tree and peered at it. “It just doesn’t make sense.” She grumbled under her breath, tapping the pen against her notepad. Foxfey weren't known to be violent towards humans, only nature.

This type of excerpt gives you a sense of the world, how Helena thinks, and keeps the reader wanting to know more about your story. More often than not, just sprinkling in exposition helps ground your reader more.

Name-Dropping

This is one that is more of a simple do not do this kind of rule. Think about a conversation in your daily life– do you repeat your sister's name every other sentence you say? The answer is no.

Having characters do this is unrealistic– and here’s an example:

“Hey Toni, I had a question for you.” I straightened up in my seat when she passed by, arms full of books. 

“What is it, Gemma?” She paused, and deposited the books on my desk, blinking at me.

“So, Toni, do you know how the weather will be today? I haven’t checked the forecast yet.” My phone had one of the worst charging lives of all devices.

She tapped her chin in thought. “I think it said something like, rainy and cloudy, Gem.” 

This has a back and forth, with every line including a name. Would you say Toni’s name twice in just two sentences? No, not in a regular conversation.

The only caveat to this is that sometimes, if a character walks into the scene, then there will probably be a Hey, Toni, like that first line. Remember, your reader doesn’t have to know your main character’s name right away. Here is what a more natural dialogue scene would be:

“Hey, Toni, I had a question for you.” I straightened up in my seat when she passed by with her arms loaded up with books.

“What?” She asked me, dropping the books onto my desk with a thunk before taking the empty seat to my right and picking up one of her books.

“Did you check today’s weather?” Toni was the kind of person to know what next month’s weather would be.

She flipped through the pages of her physics textbook while answering. “It said that today would be rainy and cloudy.” She tapped her chin in thought. “And there would be a high of 30.”

Without the name-dropping, the flow of the dialogue is smoother, don’t you think?

…and there you have it, dialogue writing Part One! Stay tuned for the second part, which I will have out on Friday– or possibly sooner.

In the meantime, make sure to check out some of my other blogposts, and take a look at my Youtube Channel!