Dialogue reveals an abundance of information about characters: Their thoughts, motivations, personality, strengths, weaknesses, desires, dislikes, etc. So writing good dialogue is crucial in creating a good novel.
Readers will not be able to suspend disbelief if dialogue is not believable. Dialogue must flow naturally from the mouths of the characters and must be in keeping with the qualities, characteristics and motivations of characters. The Grecos are not formal, pretentious or repressed in any way; they are down-to-earth, direct and open. So you will not hear them using words such as “thus” and “pardon.” They curse when they’re angry or frustrated; they say what is on their minds; they express themselves freely.
Despite many commonalities among the Grecos, there are vast differences among them. These differences are revealed through dialogue. My characters have certain expressions and or mannerisms that they use repetitively and that only belong to them. For instance, Frank waves his arm in the air and says “ah” to show disgust.
Dialogue is not only revealing of internal motivations and qualities of characters; it also reveals a lot about relationships between characters. See the exchange below in which Silvia reminds her father of the Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting she had planned for them to attend.
“Dad!” she snapped as he was taking a sip from his glass. “You know we’re going to that meeting tonight!”
“Oh, I forgot,” he said with a smirk that made it obvious to Silvia that he was lying. “Well, just wait until I finish this drink, and we’ll go.”
Apparently, Silvia wants her father to stop drinking, but he doesn’t want to stop drinking. He also doesn’t take Silvia very seriously and treats his alcoholism with lightheartedness, although it’s the root of all of his family problems.
In keeping readers immersed, it’s important to avoid distraction from the story. Using too many dialogue tags or tags such as “exclaimed” or “pronounced” can create distraction. See how easily the following excerpt flows, free of extraneous dialogue tags:
“Why do you want to study environmental science anyway?” Before Vince had a chance to answer the question, Silvia added, “It’s one of those useless things to study, like painting. Not that I don’t realize the value in studying what you have passion for and all, but—”
“I can’t just stand by while we destroy the planet. We’ll end up having a shorter reign than the dinosaurs if we don’t start making some changes. Some serious changes.” He spoke like a superhero on a mission. She saw him canvassing for Greenpeace on some city sidewalk.
“Ha, the world may be too late for saving. The Mayan calendar says it’s supposed to end this year. Did you hear about that?”
“No, but it sounds crazy.”
“Yeah, according to the Mayan calendar, the world’s going to end in 2012, so if you’re going to save it, you better act quick.”
“I’m sure there’s something you can do with your degree. What kind of job do you think you might like?” he said, dismissing her apocalyptic chatter.
Dialogue should be natural and flow freely from characters, so it need not be filled with extraneous or formal words, such as “therefore”, unless you are writing dialogue for a character like Wodehouse’s Jeeves. It may even be grammatically incorrect. It should be convincing and in making it convincing, it should match the characters. A truck stop waitress from Tulsa, Oklahoma probably speaks much differently than a college professor from Boston, Massachusetts. Individual characters may have idiosyncratic speech, which is also revealing of their internal state. For instance, a character who says “ah” a lot may be insecure and his frequent use of this slang can be used to reveal this insecurity. Relationships between characters are revealed through dialogue. Dialogue between a newly in-love couple will sound very different from dialogue between a couple who is breaking up.
Mannerisms that characters use while talking also reveal a lot about them. A person who speaks with his hands and or exaggerated facial expressions may likely be melodramatic in character. In addition to describing characters’ mannerisms as they speak, it is also important to have them performing some sort of action as they speak. I often have people eating or doing something while they are speaking. In real life, people rarely speak without simultaneously doing something else. And remember that in order for fiction to be engaging and believable, it must mirror reality as much as possible.
This post is from my blog series, “Tips for Writing Fiction.” Be sure to check out my Greco Family Trilogy books, which include Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
