Writing Better Dialogue

In our media saturated world of sound bites and reality television, many writers fall into the habit of creating dialogue heavy fiction. Although dialogue is an essential component of any great novel, it has to be done well.

Dialogue that is not integrated into the story will sound more like a bad screenplay than a novel. This lesson hit home while revising the first draft of my own novel. My dialogue ping ponged back and forth between phantom talking heads. But as a friend recently told me, “It’s not the ability to write that makes a great writer, but the ability to edit.” If this is true (and I’m inclined to believe so), having the right resources can make a huge difference.

So in the spirit of our creative community, here’s one little resource on constructing convincing dialogue.  Author Nina Munteanu has compiled a few tips in her an article “He said, She Said: Using Dialogue.” Featured on the website for her upcoming novel Darwin’s Paradox, this bulleted list contains some great tidbits on how to utilize dialogue to maximum effect. Remember, it’s important for dialogue to feel like an authentic conversation in a natural setting. If you’re struggling to achieve this, you may find Ms. Munteanu’s article as useful as I have.

I’m always on the lookout for new tools for my writing kit, so feel free to share any appropriate links in the comment section. (Please be advised that multiple links may activate the spam filter, so its best to share one at a time.)

“I can’t wait to hear from you,” she said with a smile and a tip of her coffee cup.