Sometimes when writing short stories, it’s best to let the characters speak directly for themselves. This gives the reader a feeling of being there listening as the conversation unfolds. When writing dialogue, it’s critical that you follow a few simple rules so as to not confuse the reader.
The first rule is to use quotation marks. This makes it very clear that the words that are being read are being spoken directly by one of the characters in the story. For example the following sentence let’s us know that someone is speaking to John.
“I don’t know why you have to look at me that way, John, I was only being honest.”
Of course, in the text, you have to make it perfectly clear who exactly it is that is speaking to John or your readers will get confused. You can do this by providing action before the sentence, such as providing a sentence like this.
Nancy backed away a step then looked at his face. “I don’t know why you have to look at me that way, John, I was only being honest.”
This makes it very clear that Nancy is speaking, without actually having to say so. This is a common method writer’s use to help avoid constantly hammering away with the phrases “he said” and “she said.”
The next rule you should always try to follow is to start a new paragraph whenever someone speaks for the first time, or responds to something someone else has said.
For example:
He looked at her, his face reddening and his mouth twisted, but he didn’t speak.
Nancy backed away a step then looked up at his face. “I don’t know why you have to look at me that way, John, I was only being honest.”
John turned away and walked slowly to the window.
In this example, both John’s actions and Nancy’s response are separated by a blank line, which not coincidently is the correct method to use to separate paragraphs. It helps the reader to follow which actions and words are being performed or spoken by which character. This is especially critical when there are more than two characters involved in a scene.
Another general rule to follow when writing dialog is to make sure you keep your reader abreast of what the characters are doing while speaking. Otherwise your dialogue might come off sounding more like a telephone conversation than an interaction between two or more people. It’s also a good idea to describe facial expressions as shown above. This allows you to give your readers clues as to how your characters are feeling while conversing, which is almost always a part of face-to-face conversation. People react to more than just the words of those they are speaking with. In any dialogue there is always far more to what is going on than the words that people say to one another. This is particularly true if one of the characters is lying or attempting to hide something from the other, and your reader knows it, but the other person in the conversation doesn’t.
Another thing you need to be careful with is the type of phrase you use to tell your reader who has just spoken. For example:
“I hate the way you breathe,” Nancy spat.
The word “spat” can of course be used to describe someone spitting out words, but in this instance, that wasn’t how it was used. The sentence above implies that she actually spat saliva out of her mouth while speaking. In general it’s best if you use words that actually describe what a person does while speaking, such as “said,” “yelled,” “hollered,” “whispered,” etc.
One more thing to watch is your punctuation. In general, it goes on the inside of the quote marks. Note in the example above, the comma after the word breathe. It’s the same way with periods at the end of sentences as shown in the first example above.
One final thing. To create smooth dialogue, be very selective with your use of the characters names. Try to hear the words being spoken in your head. Very rarely during conversations do people actually say each other’s name. This is because they already know who they are talking too. Saying the other’s name would be redundant. On the other hand, sometimes it can be done when one of your characters is trying to be either more intimate or is trying to manipulate the other by making things more personal. It’s a fine line, balancing what the characters would naturally say, while constantly trying to make certain your reader is kept clear on who is speaking. The best way to learn to do this well is to look at examples in printed books by author’s you respect.
Writing smooth dialogue is not as easy as some might think. It takes practice and a willingness to learn the common rules of writing. I hope this article has helped. Good luck with your writing.
