- Dialogue must move the plot forward.
- Through dialogue, readers gained a deeper insight into your characters, who they are, what motivates them. Think of it as a way to develop an intimate relationship between your characters and your reader.
- Dialogue should be real. Conversations shouldn’t sound practiced or rehearsed.
- Dialogue should not be expository. In other words, fill the pages with details of what is happening or provide background information you feel your reader should know.
- Intersperse dialogue, especially if it’s a long conversation, with narrative.
- Dialogue should not be a bunch of clichés.
photo by Clem Onojeghuo
Here’s an example: Scene from Frank’s Place
“Rough night, Teddy Boy?” Louie said, slapping Kendrick on the back. The pain in Kendrick’s right thigh started doing that ice-pick thing—a jab here, another there.
“Knock it off, Louie,” Frank warned.
Louie made his way down to the other end of the bar to claim his much-coveted stool. “Teddy don’t mind a little teasing.” Louie plucked a toothpick from the holder and balanced it sideways on the bridge of his nose. “Mix me a whiskey sour with extra cherries, and don’t be stingy with the bar nuts. Put this one on Teddy’s tab.”
Kendrick would like nothing better than to wad up the Times and stuff it into the guy’s mouth. Maybe Fritz would get the message and mind his own business. Fat chance.
From this short conversation, you learn that Ted Kendrick is taciturn and troubled, and Louie Fritz is an annoying moocher.