Quick tips for Writing Dialogue

Number 1 tip of the day: Avoid dead dialogue--as much as we want to make dialogue realistic, we don't want to bore the reader with standard niceties such as, 'Hi, nice to meet you', 'How are you?', 'Goodbye'. Make sure what your character says has purpose.

Dialogue should do one, preferably more, of these things:

• Tell us more about the character
• Push the plot forward
• Entertain us
• Keep us engaged
• Reveal backstory without lots of exposition
• Deepen conflict

And remember, it's often more important how something is said rather than what is actually said.

Do you find writing dialogue easy? What are some tricks you use to write dialogue? What books have you read that have great dialogue?

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And the WINNER of Tahlia Newland's giveaway is:

L'Aussie

Congratulations, Denise

Power of the Unsaid Word

Did you know that the majority of our communication is nonverbal? I learnt that during my years studying speech and drama. And it’s just as important to keep in mind when writing. Straight dialogue can be boring, but incorporating other forms of communication could bring your scenes to life.

Physical ways to communicate

Body language: The way a person carries themselves says a lot about that person. Someone who hunches may be disappointed or may not want to be noticed. Someone who fidgets may be nervous about something. Someone who walks with their head high may be self confident. There are countless variations.

Facial Expressions: This could include whether or not someone makes eye contact. A frown could indicate anger or suspicion or deep thought. A smile can be charming or frightening.

Hand gestures: a wave can say hello, goodbye, or go away. A tight-gripped hand shake can be a challenge or show confidence. Giving someone the finger can be a statement against authority, and a salute can show sarcasm.

Action: the way a person does something. For example, a person slamming doors is either in a hurry or angry. A person stabbing at their food could be restless, angry or bored. A character could say one thing and do the opposite.

Nonverbal elements of speech

Tone: There is a reason why emoticons came into being. Those little smileys brought tone back to text based communication and helped to avoid misunderstandings. Tone can differentiate between sarcasm, anger and joy.

Pauses: the things left unsaid. These often speak louder than the spoken word.

Grunts and sighs: These are understood in any language.

Rhythm and inflections: For example, slow speech could indicate warning, barely contained anger, a lower education.

The use of language: For example, the use of bad grammar, swearing, verbosity, formality, informality. Among other things, the use of language could say any number of things about a character.

Which nonverbal tools do you favour in your writing? Which do you shy away from? Do you think some are harder to incorporate than others?

How to Use Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags are the labels we use to indicate who is speaking: he said, she asked, they exclaimed, Lyn pontificated. The problem with dialogue tags is they are a tell rather than a show. They tell the reader who is speaking. They can also distract from the story like powerlines in a photo. For that reason it’s common to hear advice to keep the tags to a minimum.

Some writers will only use ‘said’ for their tags. At all cost they will avoid all other variations. Maybe they might allow the odd ‘ask’ or ‘reply’ in, but nothing else. Other writers will dress their tags up in froufrou: he instructed, she explained. The options are endless. Often these kind of tags are redundancies. They don’t add anything that’s already obvious in the dialogue.

Apart from the simple ‘said’ tags, I will use ones that add a dimension that’s not already evident in the speech. For example: ‘I hate you,’ he laughed. ‘Get down,’ she whispered.

Sometimes I’ll avoid the tag altogether by describing the character’s action before or after the dialogue. For example: Bob scratched his nose. ‘I don’t get it.’ In this case the need for the tag is eliminated by the action before the dialogue.

Of course, sometimes I let it get away from me. I forget to ask myself why I’m adding in a word and froufrou abounds. For that reason I love my critique partners – along with multiple edits.

Other than the standard ‘said’ tags, what do you use? Have you ever seen or tried an unusual method of dialogue tagging? How successful do you think it was?

A big thanks to Mark Noce for the inspiration for this post. Please visit his great blog here.

This weekend is my birthday weekend. My hubby may be whisking me away to an exotic location (or maybe a winery). Virtual cake for all! OR, if you’d like to make your own, such as the one in the picture, pick up a recipe from Dezz in the Kitchen

8 Tips Actors can give Writers

For a brief time in my youth I toyed with the idea of becoming an actor. I went to acting classes, I studied other actors, I read, I practised, I yearned. And then I gave it all up because I was hopeless – truly hopeless – at learning my lines.

But it wasn’t all a waste. I learned so many great things from acting. Below is a brief list of tips that writers can gain from the skills of the acting trade:

1. We communicate in more ways than dialogue alone. An actor learns that emotion is also conveyed through body language. It’s shared through silences. It can even be shown through interaction with the environment. Remember that when you write and you’ll go a long way.

2. Actors show the drama. They don’t stand on stage and describe the emotions they are going through.

3. Study people. Great actors build an understanding of people: how they react, how they move, how they think. They observe and they remember so they can then emulate what they have learned in their art. So too writers need this skill to build on their characters.

4. Don’t overdramatise. The audience and readers alike only cringe. Over the top dilutes poignancy and smothers nuances.

5. Build self-confidence. It takes courage to stand up on stage and offer the audience yourself. It takes great courage to send your writing into the public. But not only that, it takes courage to spill out your heart and soul into your work.

6. Be thick skinned. Actors and writers will have to face criticism in their careers. Learn when to listen and when to shrug it off.

7. Practice makes perfect. The more an actor acts, the more a writer writes, the better they will become.

8. Be professional. No matter what you choose to take on in life, always be professional. Show respect for your craft.

Can you think of any other acting tips which might be helpful for writers?

7 Ways to Improve Dialogue

1. Keep to the point. Remove redundancies and everyday chatter. For example:
      “Hi, how are you?”
      “I’m good thanks. How are you?”
Readers don’t care about these pleasantries. They don’t have a lot of time to sift through all the inconsequential babble. It only gives them a reason to put down your book.

2. Make it Show, not tell. Dialogue is a great vehicle to reveal backstory and keeps the plot moving, but used incorrectly, it can come off as a mere devise and make the characters sound stilted. By using it to show the story in a natural way, the readers can become more involved and engaged.

3. Keep it interesting. The careful use of dialect and slang will help to bring the characters alive and will add an element of realism. Just be careful not to over-do it.

4. Avoid speech that is too realistic. Often conversations between people are clipped and repetitive. People also add lots of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’. In the quest for realism it’s not necessary to include these elements into written dialogue. It only makes it slow and confusing to read.

5. Remove clichés. It’s just as important to avoid clichés in dialogue as it is to avoid in description and plot. Don’t get lazy.

6. Don’t forget the spaces between the lines. A lot can be revealed in a character through the words they don’t say. A silence or an action can speak louder than words.

7. Avoid large blocks of pure dialogue. If all you give your reader is a wall of chatter, the reader can quickly lose connection with the story. Break it up with action and description. It doesn’t have to be a lot of action or a wad of description. We are after variety to add flavour and interest. It will also give you greater control on the pace of your story.

Can you think of other ways to improve dialogue? What are your weaknesses when writing dialogue?