Are you struggling to learn how to write realistic dialogue? You’re not alone. I’ve read countless manuscripts in which the biggest problem was wooden, stilted, contrived-sounding dialogue. Unrealistic conversations are a great way to tank your fiction and turn it into a real slog to read. Thankfully, I’ve got three easy steps you can use to write realistic dialogue, every time.
How to Write Realistic Dialogue
Writing better dialogue to create believable characters doesn’t have to be an ordeal. Most of the time, writers overthink what their characters say. They try to stuff too much information into a conversation—infodumping—or write lines that advance the plot but feel like non sequiturs.
It doesn’t have to be that hard, however. As long as you’re willing to edit your work—and let’s face it, you should be—you, too, can learn how to write realistic dialogue whenever your story needs it. Here’s how to get started.
1. First, Write the Way People Actually Talk
Look, you know how people talk. They pause a lot, say things over and over again, and repeat back what others have said to them. Most people don’t restate facts their conversation partners already know, e.g. “Remember when Mom died seven years ago?” They use contractions. They hem and haw.
Not only that, but every person follows their own speaking rhythm. Some people use particularly short sentences and don’t say much unless they’re addressed directly. Others drone on and on and on without really saying anything at all.
It’s up to you to determine how each of your characters sounds. You can base their speaking patterns on someone you know or a fictional character that fits their socioeconomic background—just make sure to file off the serial numbers when you’re done.
The point here is to write down exactly what your characters would say in any given scenario. Let them be real people. Let them emphasize certain words and take long pauses… for breath. Give them the space to talk in circles and repeat themselves. Just focus on making them sound as human as possible—assuming they are human—and leave the cleanup for your editing phases.
2. Then, Take Out All the Repetition
Now that you’ve got some truly realistic dialogue on the page, your conversations should be, well, a little messy. My characters tend to start too many sentences with “well” and “yeah.” They pause, shrug, and shake their heads too often. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is saying what, because my characters have such similar vocabularies and speaking rhythms.
This is all A-OK! Your first draft is supposed to be a mess. Self-editing is when you start to whip it into shape.
So get rid of all the repetition. Take out the mid-sentence ellipses and replace them with dialogue or action tags. Remove the italics and rewrite sentences so that the emphasized words are obvious to the reader. Don’t let everyone start their sentences with “well” and “yeah.” Clean up your dialogue until it’s clear, readable, and non-repetitive.
3. Now, Stage a Performance of Your Work
For this last step, you can read to your cat, annoy your roommate, employ a screen reader, or gather some friends together for a dramatic reading. Now take notes. Identify which words people emphasize when reading your dialogue and notice where they pause naturally. Do they stumble over certain sentences or sound unnatural when reading them? If so, it’s time to rewrite those passages.
Next, just rinse and repeat. Go back to step two and rework your dialogue, then try another performance. Keep at it until your conversations flow naturally off the page.
Other Steps You Can Take to Write Realistic Dialogue
So you’re following my three-step process to writing realistic dialogue, but what else can you do to make your characters sound believable?
Read Great Dialogue Writers
Keep a book or two around with great dialogue in it, and turn to it whenever you need a little inspiration boost. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King and Toni Morisson for this. Their conversations sound like real people talking, not something contrived for the sake of the plot.
Watch Movies with Clever Scripts
Not just clever scripts: scripts that sound the way you want your characters to talk. I love Aaron Sorkin’s work, and I strive to write dialogue that’s as witty and snappy as his. Don’t sweat it if you can’t perfectly pull off another writer’s dialogue style, though. (I certainly can’t.) Your voice is your voice for a reason. Watching good movies is just another way to learn how to write realistic-sounding dialogue.
Understand How to Use Dialogue Tags and Action Tags
Direct speech isn’t the only factor when it comes to writing realistic dialogue. As I observed in my post about writing better dialogue, sometimes the problem is that the words surrounding the text are too stilted. Maybe you’re overusing said, or your characters shrug too much. Maybe all your dialogue tags have action tags tacked on, and they all sound the same. Whatever the problem is, it should become apparent when you stage a performance of your work.
Want more writing how-tos? Check out this list of seven good reasons to hire a developmental editor, and this handy guide to making your protagonist more relatable by eliminating nine words from your manuscript.