Line #150 SoYouWantTo/WriteDialogue


1	[[SoYouWantTo/SeeTheIndex So you want to]] write {{dialogue}}? [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Of course you do]]. Dialogue is an essential tool for most storytelling genres. It is one of the most important ways to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment establish]] and [[CharacterDevelopment develop]] your characters. It also lets you convey information to your audience in a manner that makes you invisible. Having a condescending [[InsufferableGenius Know-It-All]] express their distaste for the people they must explain the plot to, while the DeadpanSnarker [[LampshadeHanging points out that]] [[AsYouKnow everyone already knew that]] is much more fun than an {{infodump}} from the narrator.
2
3	!'''Necessary Tropes'''
4
5	First things first: you need {{characters}}. They are the ones that will make your dialogue happen. Their [[{{Backstory}} backgrounds]], [[CharacterizationTropes personalities]], and {{archetype}}s will all influence how and with whom they communicate. The more you understand your characters, the better you will understand how they speak. Check out the SoYouWantTo/DevelopCharacterPersonality page to get started.
6
7	Got characters? Great! Now you need to give them something to say and someone to say it to.
8
9	!'''The Technical Stuff'''
10
11	Dialogue is about more than giving your characters good stuff to say. You also have to communicate it so that whoever reads what you wrote understands what's going on. This section will deal with how to format your dialogue for clarity.
12
13	[[folder:Formatting Guidelines]]
14	Any time you have dialogue inside dialogue, use the opposite of what you use for normal dialogue, whether it's double quotes or single quotes. Either one of these is perfectly fine:
15	->"And she was all, 'I don't get it!', and I just wanted to smack her!"\
16	'And she was all, "I don't get it!", and I just wanted to smack her!'
17	But these are not:
18	->"And she was all, "I don't get it!", and I just wanted to smack her!"\
19	'And she was all, 'I don't get it!', and I just wanted to smack her!'
20	And whichever way you choose to go, keep it consistent. Otherwise, your audience may be disoriented after establishing in their head which quotation marks are for which type of dialogue and you wind up switching it on them. For simplicity's sake, the rest of this section will be double quote outside, single quote inside.
21
22	Any time more than one character is speaking, you can only have one person talking in each paragraph. That's how your audience expects it to be formatted, and if you don't follow it, they'll have a harder time following your story. Take this, for example:
23	->"What's going on?" said Bob. "What do you mean?" said Alice.
24
25	That's confusing. This makes more sense:
26	->"What's going on?" said Bob.\
27	"What do you mean?" said Alice.
28
29	If the last sentence in your character's dialogue ends with a period, and you have something to add after that, replace it with a comma. For example:
30	->"I don't know," said Bob.
31
32	If that last sentence ends with something other than a period, leave it be:
33	->"I don't know!" said Bob.\
34	"I don't know?" said Bob.
35
36	Notice how "said" isn't capitalized in any of those examples? Don't capitalize the first word after a line of dialogue if it doesn't start a new sentence.
37
38	Speaking of "said", when to use it and when not to:
39	* It's okay to say "said". It's not a bad word. The tag "said" just acts as a label to explain which character spoke which line, like the tail of a {{Speech Bubble\|s}}. It will be all but invisible to the audience. Meanwhile, [[SaidBookism words like orated, expressed, communicated, and]] [[HaveAGayOldTime ejaculated]] will only draw attention to themselves and make the audience think, "Why didn't they just write 'said'?"
40	** "Asked" works just like "said", except you can only tag questions with it.
41	* Use words other than "said" - like shouted, cried, whispered, or hissed - when they add something that wasn't already obvious from the spoken line. These two lines say different things:
42	-->"I don't know!" Bob snapped.\
43	"I don't know!" Bob whined.
44	* Adverbs will bog down your "said" tags if you use them too often. Avoid "said loudly" when "shouted" will do. Like the words that replace "said", adverbs are generally good when they add something new, and not good if they don't.
45	** This works just fine:
46	--->"I don't know!" Bob said anxiously.
47	** This is [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant]]:
48	--->"I don't know!" Bob whispered softly.
49	** And this is also redundant:
50	--->"I don't know!" Bob said confusedly.
51	* You can use body language cues or actions instead of speech tags. For example:
52	-->"What are you talking about?" Alice crossed her arms.
53	** In this setup, always keep the punctuation of the dialogue sentence as is and capitalize the next word. This example is not correct:
54	-->"That's okay," he put a hand on my arm to stop me.
55	** Nor are these:
56	-->"Get to the point," Alice crossed her arms.\
57	"I already told you, my name's Alice." she crossed her arms.
58	** They should be:
59	-->"That's okay." He put a hand on my arm to stop me.\
60	"Get to the point." Alice crossed her arms.\
61	"I already told you, my name's Alice." She crossed her arms.
62	* Finally, you won't always need speech tags. If you only have two characters talking, your audience should be able to keep track for themselves. Just make sure you remind them so they don't have to stop reading and count back to the last speech tag.
63	--> Bob stepped inside to find Alice pacing in an agitated circle.\
64	"What's wrong?" he said.\
65	"Wrong!" Alice growled. "I don't know, Bob. Why don't you tell me!"\
66	Bob gulped. "I, uh... I don't know?" he said lamely.\
67	"Tch. I should've known."\
68	"Well, what is it?"\
69	"Here's a hint: ''your dog ruined Christmas!''"
70
71	Keep in mind the difference between direct and indirect quotations. A direct quotation quotes ''verbatim'' what the speaker says and uses quotation marks. An indirect quotation paraphrases what the speaker says and does not use quotation marks. Indirect quotations create more distance between the speaker and the reader and are more often used in nonfiction. The following are examples of a direct quotation, an indirect quotation, and an indirect quotation in a direct quotation:
72	-->Alice asked, "Has Bob arrived?"\
73	Alice asked whether Bob had arrived.\
74	Alice said, "Charlie wants to know if Bob has arrived."
75	The following should not be used, as Alice would not phrase the question like that:
76	-->Alice asked, "Whether Bob had arrived."
77
78	While it's by no means obligatory, some authors, especially in English-language works, use italics to represent a person emphasizing a word or a sentence.
79	->"She's ''eighteen'', Bob. She doesn't need babysitting."
80	Like all things, italics are good only in moderation. Here's an example of what you shouldn't do, taken from an actual book[[note]]It's a Victorian romance, preserved partially in George Eliot's essay ''Silly novels by lady novelists'', if you're curious[[/note]]:
81	->"''Function'', not ''form'', as the ''inevitable outer expression of the spirit in this tabernacle age'', weakly ''engrossed'' her."
82	This is the literary equivalent of BoldInflation and should be avoided because it gives the impression of the character's voice going up and down like they're a bad singer. If too much is emphasized, [[EmphasizeEverything nothing is]]. It is typically best to ask yourself whether you need emphasis at all.
83
84	If you want to show that the character is shouting or otherwise agitated, it's better not to use CAPITAL LETTERS. It looks like you're screaming at the reader. If you really want to emphasize the character being angry, you might want to use italics.
85	->"What were you ''thinking?!''"
86	Versus:
87	->"What were you THINKING?!"
88	The former looks better than the latter.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	%% Please add folders for screenplays, video games, etc.
92
93	!'''Choices, Choices'''
94
95	In general, it's a good idea to match your character's speaking pattern with their archetype. SesquipedalianLoquaciousness would work well for a BrainyBrunette, while an IdiotHero is more likely to engage in BuffySpeak. A GeniusDitz might wind up [[SophisticatedAsHell doing both at once]]. A businessman would be unlikely to {{talk like a pirate}}, unless he happens to ''be'' a {{pirate}}.
96
97	Think about who your character is and how their traits would translate to how they talk:
98
99	* How well does your character understand the language they are speaking? [[FunnyForeigner Is it new to them?]] [[GrammarNazi Do they relentlessly correct other people's grammar?]]
100	* What does your character find interesting? What do they find boring? They're much more likely to discuss the former than the latter.
101	* How often does your character talk, anyway? [[TheQuietOne Do they talk at all?]]
102	* Are they honest? [[BrutalHonesty Even to an off-putting extent?]] Are they [[BadLiar really bad at lying]] or [[CannotTellALie outright incapable of it?]] Or perhaps they're [[ConsummateLiar really good at it?]]
103	* How do they [[ThatMakesMeFeelAngry talk]] [[TranquilFury when]] [[{{Angrish}} they're]] [[ForeignLanguageTirade angry?]]
104	* What are your character's {{verbal tic}}s? Do they have a CatchPhrase?
105
106	Where your characters come from, and where they are, will also have an impact. For example:
107
108	* What about slang? Does your character use it? Are you writing a scifi/fantasy story with {{future slang}}?
109	* On that note, pay attention to cultural differences between your characters. [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage One word might mean very different things to them.]] Idioms might be lost on one character, while another uses them all the time.
110	* Also pay attention to cultural similarities. People are more likely to hang out with people they get along with and that's easier to do the more they have in common. Cliques tend to form for that reason.
111
112	How do they react to other characters?
113
114	* How do they address people they don't know? Do they at all?
115	* How do they treat their friends? Family? Their {{love interest}}?
116	* What about little kids? Do they treat them like adults? Boss them around? Coddle them? Avoid them?
117	* What about their enemies? Are they defensive? Do they avoid them? Do they [[DeadpanSnarker snark at them]] until they're left alone? Are they aggressive or antagonistic?
118	* How do they handle awkward situations? Do they talk differently when they're uncomfortable? How so? If they [[OpenMouthInsertFoot put their foot in their mouth]], do they [[ShuttingUpNow stop talking]] or [[DiggingYourselfDeeper make it worse]]?
119
120	Remember to have fun with it!
121
122	!'''Pitfalls'''
123
124	A very fast way to make your audience lose interest is to have poor dialogue. Here's how to avoid that:
125	* Read your dialogue out loud. Always, always read it out loud. If it doesn't sound natural to you, it probably won't sound natural to your reader. Of [[BluntMetaphorsTrauma course]], [[AlienTropes there]] [[StrangeSyntaxSpeaker are]] [[CloudCuckooLander exceptions]].
126	* On the flip side, don't make your dialogue resemble your narration, unless you want to SoYouWantTo/MakeTheNarratorACharacter. No two people speak exactly the same way, and your character's voices need to be distinct from your own. When your character talks, it has to sound like [[ShapedLikeItself something they would actually say.]]
127	* Be aware of the local in-universe setting. Most people would not have a loud, intimate conversation during a staff meeting. Maybe your characters would. Where they are and who they are talking to will have an impact on what they're willing to say and how they are going to say it. Your audience will pay attention to that. You should, too.
128	* Take caution when writing a CharacterFilibuster. For one thing, it's not easy to sell as in-character. For another, most of your audience will suspect that [[AuthorFilibuster you're the one doing the preaching]]. If you really are, [[PaperThinDisguise they will definitely notice]]. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.
129	* One use for dialogue is avoiding {{infodump}}s. Don't make dialogue an infodump unless your character [[MotorMouth actually talks like that]] and you can come up with a plausible in-universe reason for that character to speak in infodump.
130	* Having your character's voice fit their ''archetype'' is not bad. Having their voice fit their ''stereotype'' '''is''' bad. Don't assume that all black men talk like [[Film/RushHour Chris Tucker]], or that all computer nerds use [[LeetLingo 733T 5P34K]].
131	* It's okay to have your characters use poor grammar... to an extent. If it's difficult to read and understand, then rewrite it.
132	* Along those lines, if your character has an accent or dialect, that's fine. [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Bet ah dun lahk reedin' dis mass, an' needer well yer awdiance.]] Less is more. A ''lot'' less.
133
134	In general, just make sure that what your characters say is consistent with who they are and what they do - in other words, it's gotta be in character. The EmotionlessGirl will speak differently from the ManicPixieDreamGirl. Bob's LoveInterest, Alice, will see a different side to him from his [[MyBelovedSmother overbearing mother]], Jan. Do not confuse your audience - at least, not on accident. [[MindScrew If confusion is your intent]], then go ahead - but find a way that doesn't disengage them from a story.
135
136	And while we're at it:
137	[[folder:A few notes on natural human speech]]
138	Unless they're in a formal setting or have flowery speech as their quirk, people will usually be rather succint and brief when they speak, cutting unnecessary fat from their sentences and using simpler words. Compare:
139	->"I cannot talk with you now because my train will leave the station at nine thirty two."
140	->"I can't talk right now, I'll miss my train!"
141	The latter gives us a little less information, but sounds much more natural. Usually, people will also shorten their sentences whenever possible, for example by turning "she is" into "she's". Not doing that might lead to conveying a different message than one you were aiming for. For example:
142	->"So she's a witch."
143	->"So she is a witch."
144	The former suggests that the character didn't know what "she" was, while the latter tells us that the character has just confirmed something that was uncertain.
145
146	As mentioned above, you can't write dialogue the same way you write narration. If you want to drop {{Expospeak}}, hide it under emotions and personality of the character delivering it.
147	->"The beast was roughly five metres tall, with charcoal fur covering all of it and glowing, red eyes set in a bear-like head, the maw of which was filled with thirty long fangs. The creature was very much like a bear in appearance. It stood on hind legs, and its paws were equipped with long claws."
148	This is narration. This is not how a person who's just had an encounter with the creature would describe it.
149	->"It was- it was a giant bear, I think, but completely black, and with those glowing, red eyes - oh gods, those eyes were terrifying! And it had fangs, like a full maw of fangs, and giant claws!"
150	A few years later, when that person recounts the events, their description might be closer to the narrative one.
151	->"It was huge - easily three times my height, standing on two legs. Looked a bit like a giant, black bear, I think, though it's eyes were glowing red, and its claws and fangs - it had a lot of fangs - were really long."
152
153	Remember, you don't have to give your reader all the details - and especially not in dialogue.
154	->"Oh, I remember him. The guy was seven feet two, with curly, black hair reaching his shoulders and small, brown eyes. There was a small dimple under his right eye, I believe, and a really freakish scar running down from the outer corner of his left eye to the nostril. He was dressed very elegantly, in a black suit from Harrods, with a small handkerchief in the pocket. He had very fine shoes, but his long, white gloves were oddly dirty," she said.
155	This is a bit too much. The woman giving the description would have to have an excellent memory to keep in mind stuff like the dimple and the eye color when the scar is very obviously an eye-catching feature. Likewise, she probably didn't get close enough to read a tag on his suit and measure him down to an inch - unless she ''did'', which would imply something interesting happenning between the two. You can use excessive detail to tell us something interesting about the speaker, but unless that's your intention, the description will likely focus only on the most notable features, with everything else mentioned very briefly, if at all. When talking in person, people will also replace some parts of the description with hand gestures and expressions if those can carry the message better.
156	->"Oh, I remember him. The guy was freakishly tall, the tallest I've even seen in my life. Short black hair, can't remember his eyes, but he had this really freaky scar, here." She pointed to the outer corner to her left eye and ran a line to her nose. "He was dressed like a rich guy, though, suit and all, but his gloves were really dirty."
157
158	Keep in mind that most people don't rehearse their dialogue before they say it. People will often pause, sometimes in the middle of a sentence, to recall a fact or think of a good word to use - or simply because they forgot what they wanted to say. Likewise, they will use "placeholder words", such as "um", "like", "ah", "hm" and so on, to give themselves time to think. They will also pepper their speech with various phrases, along the lines of the aforementioned "like" or "I think", "I believe", "maybe" and so on if they aren't sure of what they've seen or heard. Sometimes they'll remember a detail halfway through the sentence and throw it in quickly. Some people will pepper their speech with curses, or have a verbal tick, or a stutter. Additionally, a person who's surprised, or just past a traumatic event, will likely stutter and/or have trouble forming a coherent sentence.
159
160	When talking about sizes, people will rarely be precise (unless they're scientists, for example, discussing something technical). Rather than "The beast was two hundred metres tall", they're more likely to say "The beast was the size of a skyscraper". Most people don't have measuring tape in their eyes.
161
162	When it comes to realistic dialogue, remember that both sides should acknowledge the other side speaking. There is a difference between a dialogue and two characters taking turns talking.
163	->'''Alice''': The Temple of Thor has been abandoned ten years ago.\
164	'''Bob''': Someone has been there recently.
165	This is {{expospeak}}. Bob doesn't acknowledge the fact that Alice has spoken, and his sentence doesn't seem to answer hers. Alice also sounds like she's delivering the exposition to the reader.
166	->'''Alice''': The Temple of Thor? We've abandoned it for a new place a decade ago!\
167	'''Bob''': Maybe, but it's pretty obvious someone's visited it pretty recently.
168	Here Bob acknowledges what Alice has said and answers her. Additionally, Alice is less of an exposition-bot and more of an actual person, expressing surprise.
169
170	Finally, remember that the characters will talk for more reasons than simply to pass information. They'll talk about their feelings and emotions, chat to pass time, share their opinions and dispute various topics. Such conversations can do a lot to characterize your characters and make them feel more alive.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	!'''Potential Subversions'''
174
175	Playing with your audience's expectations can be really fun! Plus, there's the potential to explore HiddenDepths this way.
176	* Have your character's speech differ from their archetype in some way. Got a muscular jock character? Make him prone to [[PurpleProse flowery, poetic speech]].
177	* Established characters can take the audience by surprise for comic effect. The ShrinkingViolet might actually have [[MotorMouth quite a lot to say]] about [[RailEnthusiast trains]]. TheStoic might Squee when he meets [[NotSoStoic his childhood hero]].
178	* Remember, OOCIsSeriousBusiness for a reason. You can create some great dramatic tension when your normally loud PluckyComicRelief gets his BerserkButton pushed and becomes [[TranquilFury disturbingly quiet]].
179	** That being said, even your OutOfCharacterMoment [[LogicBomb has to be in character]]. That is, your character must have some kind of internally consistent reason for acting that way, even if it doesn't look like it. Otherwise, you're risking CharacterDerailment.
180	** Do not ''ever'' make an OutOfCharacterMoment on accident. It looks amateurish.
181
182	!'''Writers' Lounge'''
183	!!'''Suggested Plots'''
184
185	Try writing a scene - or an entire story - with nothing but dialogue. It's a great exercise to test whether you can keep your characters distinguishable by nothing but their voices.
186
187	!'''Extra Credit'''
188
189	The {{dialogue}} index is a great start for learning different ways characters can express things. Also check out the pages for tropes that would apply to your characters. The "quotes" pages in particular will give you a basic idea of how these characters might talk. {{Real Life}} is a fantastic place to find inspiration for dialogue. All you have to do is listen.
190
191	Every medium sports many examples of great dialogue, awful dialogue, and everything in between. Here just a few of them to get you started.
192
193	!!'''The Greats'''
194
195	Creator/JossWhedon is generally fantastic at writing fun, snarky dialogue for TV shows. ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' are great examples.
196
197	Creator/DavidMamet is famous for his [[MametSpeak quick, clever dialogue.]] Want an example of awesome script-writing? Check him out.
198
199	If there's one thing that Creator/QuentinTarantino excels at, it's dialogue. In particular, his dialogue is great at serving two purposes at once. For a particularly good example, watch the opening scene of ''Film/ReservoirDogs''. It seems like an innocuous conversation about tipping waitresses that has little to do with the plot, but it actually serves to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment establish all the main characters' personalities]] and foreshadow their character arcs. Another great scene with dialogue that serves dual purposes is the opening of ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'', but to discuss it at length would be to spoil the sequence!
200
201	%% Please add more Greats!
202
203	!!'''The Epic Fails'''
204
205	''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' is basically a list of everything you should never do with dialogue... or storytelling, for that matter.
206

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