Writing Advice Roundup: Dialogue

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Dialogue is a tricky beast. Though it can be great for explaining what’s going on, it’s best to avoid exposition through dialogue. It’s also fantastic for building characters, but you don’t want to fall into trope-ridden traps. If nothing else, always “speak” your dialogue in your head and consider how natural it sounds. Is it something a person would actually say in that situation? Or is it something that you need the character to say to get the story moving? If the latter, look at other ways you can get the story moving along. Unnatural dialogue has a habit of breaking a reader’s immersion.

Podcasts

Writing Excuses 4.26: Avoiding Stilted Dialogue

Writing Excuses 5.17: Dialogue Exercises

Writing Excuses 10.38: How Does Context Shape Dialogue?

Writing Excuses 15.15: Dialogue Q&A

Articles

How to Write Dialogue: 9 Practical Tips for Writers (+ Examples)

Eight Strategies for Improving Dialogue in Your Writing

Book

How to Write Dazzling Dialogue: The Fastest Way to Improve Any Manuscript