How to Write Dialogue
- hbkiser
- May 13
- 2 min read
In my student years, I wrote a scene of dialogue that, to my mind, showed how smart and interesting the characters were. The philosophical musings pleased me to no end (ah, youth). At the request of a more experienced and accomplished (but still a student) writer (let's call him Tom Smith), I showed him my draft. His response: "Nobody talks like this unless they're Tom Smith."
Believable dialogue — yes, even when we're writing nonfiction from memory — is challenging for three main reasons.
We write in unnatural or stiff speech patterns – This was my issue. Most people, even the Tom Smiths among us, don't speak in pristine, grammatically correct, stilted language. Even at academic dinners with a table full of PhD guests (trust me on this one) will chat casually, regardless of the subject matter. Real people aren't likely to explain things explicitly, transition perfectly, or speak in a formality that would make Sherlock Holmes feel at home.
We write every voice similarly – And that person is often the writers themselves, particularly in fiction. People don't use the same vocabulary, speech patterns, rhythm, structure, you name it. Strip away the dialogue tags, and your reader should still be able to identify who is speaking, just as you can instantly distinguish between your mother's voice and that of the annoying woman the next cubicle over. Unless you work in a cubicle next to your mother.
We give our speakers too much credit – In real life, people rarely say exactly what they mean. Hey, people rarely know enough about themselves to know what they mean or why they feel a certain way! We drop hints, made snide comments or innuendos, argue about the dishes in the sink when we're really mad about the unpaid mortgage.
One way to shoehorn in with an editorial eye when you're writing dialogue is to check: did you remember to include interjections? (Shout out to my fellow 1970s kids who immediately began singing the Schoolhouse Rock song in their head! Woot woot!)
Knowable Magazine recently published this piece on the purpose of such filler. These utterances have nothing whatever to do with meaning, and that's why writers often overlook using them. But if, as author Bob Holmes says, those little "uhs," "hmms," and "huhs" we toss into conversations aren’t just filler — the manage pauses, show attentive listening, or request clarification without interrupting the flow — then shouldn't they appear judiciously in our written dialogue? (Not interviews, and not in more formal writing and journalism, but in other creative work.)
Go through your manuscript, highlighting all the dialogue. Use one color for each character.
Then read the dialogue both by conversation and by individual character. If you like, use different voices to engage more of your own sensory clues. Does it sound real, authentic? Does it seem like a conversation people would sincerely have in the real world? Does each character have a distinctive manner of speaking? Would interjections help?
People speak these interjections all the time. Our characters can, too.
