Good Dialogue Isn’t Real
Writing Dialogue that Sounds Real while Moving the Story Forward
Looking for ways to create realistic dialogue? Listen to real people for tips, but keep the dialogue focused and tight
Writers want to write real dialogue. We want our characters to sound just like they would in real life. But have you ever truly listened to an entire conversation? Try taping or transcribing one sometime. Here’s one couple's Saturday morning:
"We really need to sit down and go through money sometime."
"Yeah, I know. (pause) Typical."
"What?"
"Grmph. People are always pulling strings. (rustle newspaper) Principal got pulled over for drunk driving and, um, I think it said he called a police friend, and anyway the cop took him home instead of arresting him and now the cop’s in trouble and the principal’ll prob’ly get off scott free—hey, get off the table, Fluffy!—cuz they can’t fire him since he wasn’t arrested and it just goes to show how far off base our society is getting. . . mumble . . . "
"Yeah, I saw that on TV last night. Or was it this morning? But I bet they can still do something since it’s all over the news and it’s on video, and, uh, you know, I wouldn’t want him as a principal. No, it was last night, because Leno came on after. But anyway, if a teacher has to set an example, what do you think a principal ought to do? Hey Tim! Are you doing your homework? I was thinking, I’d really like to get him an X-box for Christmas. What do you think?"
"Huh? Christmas?"
"Yeah. What’s our budget like? We really need to go through money stuff sometime. Hey, Tim! Are you on the computer? You need to come empty the dishwasher."
Good Dialogue Only Sounds Real
Get the idea? Real life conversations are full of run-on sentences, off-topic diversions, interruptions, and verbalized hesitations. The above dialogue is so scattered that a reader can’t even tell what the main point is.
Good Dialogue Has a Purpose
Your job as writer is to keep dialogue purposeful, while making it sound real. Listen to the words and phrases that real people use, but be ruthless when you're cutting distractions, hesitations, and diversions.
Every piece of writing should either move the plot forward or develop character. Ask yourself what purpose that particular set of dialogue serves, then tighten it to meet that purpose. And if it doesn’t have a purpose, it’s not needed, no matter how well written it is.
For help finding alternatives to he said / she said, read Dialogue Tags.
