Dialogue is crucial in a book – it brings the story and characters to life. The way characters speak—what they say, how they say it, and even what they don’t say—gives readers insight into their personality, background, and emotions.
Well-written dialogue makes a story feel more natural and engaging, pulling readers into the world you’ve created.
Main Rules of Writing a Dialogue
Writing dialogue in a book can be tough because it has to do so many things at once while still sounding real. Here’s why:
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Making It Real but Useful
- Real-life conversations are full of small talk and “umms,” but book dialogue needs to get to the point—whether it’s moving the plot forward or showing who the characters are—without sounding fake.
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Giving Characters Their Own Voice
- Every character needs to sound like themselves, not like you or everyone else. That’s hard to juggle, especially with a big cast.
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Show, Don’t Tell
- Dialogue should hint at emotions or conflicts instead of just spelling everything out, and pulling that off takes practice.
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Keeping It Snappy
- You want the conversation to feel natural, but it also needs to keep the story moving. Too much talking, and the story drags; too little, and it feels rushed.
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Reading Between the Lines
- Good dialogue isn’t just about what’s being said—it’s about what’s not being said. Writing that kind of subtlety is tricky.
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Avoiding the Corny Stuff
- Dialogue full of clichés or overly polished lines can feel fake, but coming up with fresh, engaging lines isn’t always easy.
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Blending It In
- Dialogue can’t exist in a vacuum—it needs to work with the action and description around it, which takes some careful balancing.
Top Tips to Make Your Dialogues Shine – Inkitt Style!
Punctuation Placement
Let’s start with how to write dialogue correctly—it’ll save you and your editor time on punctuation fixes.
Example:
“How do you do?” asked Prince Havreshire. “You may call me Timmy.”
“Nice to meet you, Timmy,” said the cashier.
Prince Havreshire placed the box of pudding on the counter. “Just this, kind sir.”
Notice the pattern? Punctuation always goes before the quotation mark. Always.
Quotation Marks
Dialogue is opened and closed by quotation marks.
Whether or not you use the double mark (“) or the single mark (‘) is up to you and where you’re publishing. Americans utilize the double quotation mark and Europeans often use the single.
If you have a long piece of dialogue that will take up two or more paragraphs, use an opening quotation at the beginning of every paragraph and only use the closing quotation at the very end.
How to Nail the Perfect Sentence Ending
If a sentence ends with an exclamation point or question mark, just write it as is—simple enough! But what about commas and periods?
- Use a comma if the dialogue comes before the tag (e.g., “I don’t know,” she said).
- Use a period if the dialogue stands alone or the tag isn’t directly related (e.g., “I know. I was joking.” She laughed.).
Key tip: Tags like “said” or “exclaimed” modify the dialogue and take a comma. If they don’t, use a period. For example:
- “I don’t know why,” she said.
- “It’s fine.” He smiled.
When in doubt, match the punctuation to how the tag fits with the speech!
New Speaker, New Paragraph
In order to help the reader distinguish who is talking, start a new paragraph for each person’s dialogue. This lets the reader know that someone new is speaking. It also creates some white space on your page that will break up long pieces of prose.
Throw Away Your Thesaurus
Here’s a tip: don’t overthink ‘said.’
Teachers often suggest using fancier words instead, but that habit can hurt your writing. ‘Said’ is simple, clear, and doesn’t distract readers from the story.
Example:
“I can’t believe you!” Delilah exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Thomas yelled questioningly.
“That was my last yogurt,” she bemoaned.
All those tags pull focus from the dialogue itself. Stick to ‘said’—it’s easier for everyone!
Take these four rules and look over your dialogue to make sure you’re following them. Odds are, if you break one of these once or twice, there are probably more in your story. Make them a part of your daily writing practice.
