The Writer's Guide to a Good Story

Dialogue

I'm surprised I haven't gone over this yet. Dialogue's actually an important part of your story. It's kind of like the make or break for readers. Maybe you'd expect an action to have short, snappy dialogue, while a historical fiction? Maybe not so much.

The most important aspect of dialogue is that it has to be REALISTIC. What your character says has to match their personality, their time period, and their surroundings. Here are a couple of things you need to remember.

1) Dialogue does not tell a story. 

The other day I was watching some movie where the main character was confronted by her caretaker. The caretaker accidently calls the main character by her mother's name, and here is what the main character has to say:

"My name is not Susan! My mom's name was Susan, and she and my dad both died in a horrible car accident three years ago in which they were hit by a car going off the road! They left me in your care because no one else was available!"

Keep in mind that her caretaker already knows this. I kid you not, I was looking at this, and just kind of staring, the same way you'd stare at your parents if they told you that your Hamster, Nutmeg, had run away to join the animal circus. Honestly, that is just lazy.

I know that the above mentioned was a movie, not a book, but they basically have the same role. Capture a reader's attention, and be able to tell them a story without BLATANTLY TELLING THEM A STORY.

That means that it's perfectly fine if some of what your character says leaves your reader in suspense. It's probably something that's going to be explained later on in the story, or maybe even in the next book. (For those of you writing a series)

Same rule applies to names as well. The thing with the names of your characters is that they're usually either introduced in the dialogue or the narration. That is fine. What is NOT fine, is having your character speak like this to introduce another character:

"Ah, yes. My brother Bobby and my sister Susan are well, thank you. My mom, Henry, is not doing well, though. Her doctor, Will Smith, has told her that her toes need to be amputated right away."

Yes, by the way, I named the mom Henry on purpose. Just seeing how many of you are paying attention.

Instead of doing THAT, why not do something like this?

"Oy, mom!" I yelled.

"What?" My mom, Henry, poked her head into my room to glare at me.

"Will Smith says your toes need to be amputated."

"How do you know?"

"Bobby told me he called ," I said.

Yeah, I know. Not the best plot I've come up with. But you know what I mean. 

2) Listen to your characters. Not everyone comes from the same place. Not everyone has the same upbringing. Everyone has their own unique way of talking. Some of them have weird catch-phrases. Some of them may use slang that no one else does.

For example, maybe one of your characters comes from a modern city, and maybe her friend's from some made up town in a fantasy. Let's toss both characters into a situation where they're about to be eaten by a giant dragon.

Modern City Kid: "Aw, hell! Look at that thing! We gotta get out here! Run!"

Fantasy Town Kid: "Oh my goodness! We must run away at once! That is a DoughChino Dragon!"

That's just a basic outline, though. Depending on the personalities of your characters, they'll probably have something different to say when threatened by a DoughChino Dragon. (Those are not real, by the way)

My point is that although no two people are exactly the same, you wouldn't expect fancy dialogue to come from a modern kid growing up in the suburbs. You also wouldn't expect King Henry the Eighth in his rightful time and place to say this:

"Yo, I'd tap that."

Yes, I've actually seen that, or stuff like it. I don't understand. 

3) Read. Read published books and look at how their dialogue works. 

4) Think about how people talk in real life. Sometimes they put their foot in their mouth and say stupid stuff. They may stammer, they may stutter, they might stumble over their own words. Sometimes people get interrupted.

Other times they won't have time to finish a conversation before they're dragged into another problem, or situation. 

Let's say you have a character who's not a real morning bird. Or sparrow, or whatever. If they were woken up at six in the morning, they wouldn't be all.

"Oh my gosh! What's the matter?"

Their first words would probably be mumbled. Something like this:

"Screw off. I'm tryin' to sleep."

That's what I would say, at least. 

I have to point this out, by the way. I understand if you're writing a fantasy, your characters will talk differently than modern city kids. But WHY is it that everyone, even the children, talks like my english teacher?

Scratch that. Even my english teacher doesn't use language that formal. I mean, it's not always a bad thing, but kids are kids. They're still learning how to express their thoughts in words properly. Regardless of where they are, their vocabulary is not going to be as advanced as that of an adult. Unless they're exceptionally smart, or some kind of genius, of course.

I think my biggest pet peeve is when ordinary suburb kids talk like they're college professors. Like I said before, that only seems proper if it's on purpose. In other words, if they're some kind of genius.

I've actually seen this more than you would think. In conclusion, let your dialogue match your story, and you will get far in life.

I hope none of you have ever come across a DoughChino Dragon. If you do, please take a picture for me.