I Actually Read Fahrenheit But Okay
Yeah, I have the book in my room from when my freshman class read it in English.
Here I’m going to post tips on how to write dialogue that sound realistic, but is still enjoyable.
1. Make it as short as coherently possible. Less can be more. By making, say, a husband speak few words to his wife, you can hint at some marital discord.
2. Don’t have them use fancy words unless they are thinking about how to word what they want to say or they’re trying to convey something that will stick to other characters. A good use of spicing up their vocabulary is to use it to hide the actual theme of your subject in the dialogue.
3. When a character enters a dialogue they are doing so because they want something; they have an agenda. It can be simply to socialize, or to learn information, or to show some superiority as the main characters in There Will Be Blood do by using dialogue to show control.
4. Don’t use dashes or elipses (-, ..., respectively) too much. In dialogue or in narrative. J. K. Rowling used WAY too many dashes, to the point where I was confused for half the time.
5. Keeping #4 in mind, give the characters interesting diction or grammar to show when THEY are speaking. But only hint at this, as doing it too much would result in you putting more focus on how dialogue is conveyed l, instead of the dialogue content itself. If a character is quiet or stutters or something like that, say so outside the dialogue in the same paragraph.
6. Characters should be doing somehing while they are talking. Normal people don’t just walk up to each other and only talk. They fiddle with their own body like picking off lint or curling hair or making subtle movements with their hands; they do something. You want this because it makes them look real and human, and when you do have characters who are only talking, it is typically something very important. When parents go to talk their children about the birds and bees, they don’t do while their cooking.
7. Slang. Its best used in dialogue, so don’t try to use it in narrative unless its first-person and an opinion of a character (admittedly it can be used for humor or some dramatic irony between characters.) However you should use it sparingly, unless your conveying people who aren’t as classy, or who aren’t so intelligent. In Bojack Horseman, the use of the word “fuck” is so rare and signifying of an important event, that fans have made videos titled, “Bojack Horseman Seasons 1-5 - Every ‘Fuck’ Moment”.
8. Don’t aspire for perfect dialogue. You don’t have to follow ANY of these tips (including this one, and a few you really should.) You’re the writer, the author, the creator. If you truly think that you are good at writing then you should trust your instincts. Just don’t get ignorant okay.