Edit like an Editor: A Wattpad Featured Guide ✔

Part iv. Compelling Dialogue

Dialogue in fiction isn't by any means real, but it needs to sound real.

If your characters sound like they're giving prepared speeches, the reader will most likely become disinterested, unless the scene calls for a character to actually recite a speech.

Anyone can write a conversation, but dialogue serves a range of purposes.

Dialogue should be vibrant. A character's spoken words should reflect her personality, attitudes, and bearing, and it should be filled with the typical hesitations, interruptions, and differences in tone and volume.

You can show where a character grew up and the education she received by the words she chooses to say and how she puts them together.

You can use dialogue to show how characters relate to one another.

Dialogue can even show her age, her maturity level, or the mood she is in.

Dialogue, used well, enables you to show the reader who your characters are while moving your story along.

Make dialogue subtle. Remember, people in real life don't say everything that's on their minds.

All dialogue should achieve at least one of these three purposes:

• Progress the storyline.

• Offer new information for the reader.

• Provide insight into characterization.

Speech That's Real

To make your characters real, you must make your dialogue convincing and compelling.

How do you revise your dialogue so that it creates strong characters? Consider the following:

• Make sure your dialogue doesn't sound like a prepared speech: Unless your character is actually in a situation where she needs to recite a speech, your character will fall flat. How do real speeches sound? Usually, boring, especially when read. Writing is an art form; therefore, so is dialogue. If you're able to write your dialogue with an interesting rhythm, just like poetry, you'll be able to hook your readers in and make them feel like they're in the presence of a real human being.

• Be careful with dialect: If you try to capture an accent, whether it's regional or ethnic, you will probably need to do some background research. Otherwise, you risk the character coming off as both unbelievable and unoriginal. Well-researched and accurate dialects, accents and common phrases will help achieve a sense of realism.

• Make sure your dialogue isn't predictable or clichéd: If the dialogue seems typical of what everyone says all the time about a particular subject or conflict, your character won't seem very unique or complex.

• Reveal character attitudes: Look for ways to let dialogue convey character traits and motivations. Think about this as well: Sometimes what is not said is more revealing than what is said.

Adding Emotion to Dialogue with Word Choice

You can show the emotion underlying dialogue by carefully picking the words a character speaks. Take a look at these examples:

"Mr. Marino? What a surprise. I didn't know you were coming."

"Mr. Marino, you came! And I thought you'd forgotten."

"Is that you, Mr. Marino? Did you... I mean, are you sure you want to be here?"

"Mr. Marino? Who the hell invited you?"