Crafting Realistic Dialogue in Fiction
Your character's words and conversation are key character-building tools.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this essay first appeared on my author website in 2019.
What pops into your mind when you think of your favorite character?
Memorable lines are often the first thing we associate with a character. Han Solo warning C-3PO to “never tell me odds” when flying into an asteroid field. Sheriff Brody telling Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” upon first seeing the shark they’re hunting.
Dialogue opens a window into a character’s mind and soul. It acts as an important framework for revealing what shapes their personalities and what drives their actions.
Characters feel more alive and real when their thoughts, words, and actions mirror what you would expect from a real-world person faced with similar circumstances. Well-written dialogue becomes a powerful tool in shaping how your audience sees a particular character and helping them connect with that same character.
Characteristics of Bad Dialogue
Ever since I published my debut novel Pandora Reborn in 2018, I’ve read several novels from fellow indie authors and mainstream authors. Along the way, I’ve encountered common problems associated with crafting effective dialogue.
Too many authors miss the point entirely with dialogue. Their characters never feel like real people because they approach dialogue the wrong way.
One common error is turning dialogue into a vehicle for spouting exposition. This creates clunky blocks of text that resemble a recitation of a fictional Wikipedia article more than an authentic conversation between two or more people.
Inexperienced authors also tend to incorporate obtrusive dialogue tags. They toss aside basic tags like said, asked, answered, or replied that melt into the background and use tags from declared to retorted that draw undue attention.
You also have a group of authors who delight in confusing readers by uncorking line after line of dialogue without blending action, body language, and viewpoint into the scene. Failing to strike a harmonious balance with these elements prevents an author from framing dialogue properly and giving it the right context.
Characteristics of Good Dialogue
As an author, I approach every scene I write in a story in visual terms. I close my eyelids and let each scene play out before me as though I am standing just out of frame watching everything unfold. This approach serves me quite well in crafting dialogue because it creates the sensation that I'm eavesdropping on conversations between my characters.
Dialogue should reveal character, move the plot forward, give context to any unfolding action, and bring characters to life. If it doesn’t feel real to your reader, they will be drawn out of the story.
Authors should craft dialogue to resemble real conversations between real people. This means detailing body language and speech mannerisms to show a character’s personality. It also means taking time to make what each character says sound and feel realistic.
Unrealistic dialogue is a persistent stumbling block for some authors in the science fiction genre. They tend to force a character to address unseen readers rather than forge an authentic conversation with a second character when introducing backstory elements or advanced technology into the story. It doesn’t make sense in real world terms. Why would a character spout technobabble at a colleague who likely possesses a similar level of understanding on the same subject? It would be like offering up a detailed breakdown of how a smartphone works to someone who was already texting on their iPhone before you walked into the room. You must always examine dialogue through the eyes of the characters involved in that conversation.
This is what guides how I shape character dialogue in my own science fiction stories, like my Alien People Chronicles series. I resist drawing undue attention to advanced alien technology through technobabble. I also don’t make my characters pause and offer a detailed lecture on some historical event or political situation on their home planet. Any information included in dialogue that a reader needs to know is always introduced in an organic and realistic way.
The fictional world you create as an author is the real world for the characters who dwell in that world. When you remember that guiding principle, it will help you shape dialogue that always moves the story forward rather than hitting the pause button.
Tarantino is my favorite writer of dialogue, hands down
Thanks for sharing 👍