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[joe-story-corner]

How to Write REALISTIC and SMOOTH Dialogue

In a story, dialogue is quite important, it helps the readers paint a picture of what's happening and the characters themselves. However, it can be difficult to avoid the unnaturalness and choppiness that comes with a lack of experience. But luckily, I have put together A LOT of advice on how you can get over that rockiness and improve!

*** KEEPING YOUR DIALOGUE REALISTIC, AND PACING ***

>> Keep your characters in character:

Dialogue is a remarkably quick way for readers to determine your character's personality. Thus, you want their speech patterns to remain fairly consistent so the audience won't get confused. If your character is more serious, then they will use less slang and perhaps a more impressive vocabulary. If your character is more relaxed, they will use more slang and compress the words. (such as "dunno," "kay," "y'know," etc.)

Basically, you want their tone to match their traits so the way that they talk is more realistic and personlized to themselves. If the way all your characters speak is the same, there's something wrong. A strong tip is to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they would respond!

>> Take the situation into consideration:

This is another part of keeping your characters in, well, character. Different emotional situations will have a different effect on separate people, so make sure that you have an idea of how your character will act during stressful, irritating, and sad times.

If your character is normally cold, they will struggle if it comes to comforting other people because they have less experience in that field.

>> Don't take too long with their words:

Unlike when narrating something, most people talk just to get the idea across. They will be more specific and quicker with what they say. (This excludes any character who likes to talk a lot.) Unless it's on purpose, they won't dance around the topic. Think of when you casually chat with your friends; you're pretty unlikely to use certain words and/or phrases that might be common to use while narrating.

If you want to explain something complicated, instead of writing out a paragraph of just one person talking, use a question-and-answer prompt! This is where another character continuously asks related questions that get answered by another person, so you can indirectly reveal your explanation.

*** HOW TO WRITE A SMOOTHER CONVERSATION AND DIALOGUE TAGS***

>> Having a variety of dialogue tags:

This is a pretty basic thing to look out for if you're new to writing conversations. Using words like "said," every other sentence can easily make it feel choppy and robotic. Instead, use words like "murmured," "smirked," etc. to paint some emotion into their words. Additionally, vary the location of the dialogue tags! They don't all have to go after the statement, you can include something in the beginning or even the middle, too!

Examples:

Beginning - She tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Middle - "Oh," he blinked, "I actually never thought about that."

End - "Wait up!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hands around.

>> Using no dialogue tags to create a smooth conversation:

Having too many tags can also overwhelm your reader--remember, sentence variety is a crucial part of writing--so you can always drop them if they're unneeded. This applies when your characters (two is the suggested amount) are talking back and forth in a pattern straightforward enough for the reader to understand who's talking without it having to be labeled.

Dropping dialogue tags in these moments can create a smoother atmosphere during the conversation because the reader only has to focus on the talking present.

*** USING SLANG, STUTTERS, FILLER WORDS, AND PAUSES ***

Human speech is often not perfect; when talking, we often make mistakes such as filler words, grammatically incorrect phrases, etc. Hence, for more natural-sounding dialogue, it's important to incorporate some of these.

>> Pauses and stutters:

When reading dialogue, we read it at a steady pace unless it's written otherwise. However, that steady pace can soon get too robotic and too smooth. Luckily, there are several ways to change this! You can use dialogue tags, (ex: she quickly spoke) commas, and ellipsis (...). These are often integrated when the character is hesitant, nervous, answering something, or when they need to admit something. The same idea applies to stutters--they're mainly used to demonstrate anxiousness, which can be found in varying situations.

>> Filler words and slang:

Filler words can really just be used where you see fit. They may be used in the situations I previously mentioned (because it shows someone stumbling over their words) but it's ultimately up to you!

Slang, just like everything else, should not be used too often, or it will seem forced and exaggerated. The point is to sound natural, and increasing amounts of repetitiveness can ruin it. It's also important to remember that in real life, our conversations move slower; when someone speaks, another person usually doesn't respond quite literally, right after. However, in writing, dialogue can actually often seem that way, which is why using tags and these imperfections of speech is pivotal for building a realistic conversation!

*** CONCLUSION ***

Lastly, a key point when writing dialogue is to ALWAYS read the conversations! Whether it be in your head or out loud, it can often help you catch anything that seems off! Additionally, like I mentioned at the very beginning, write dialogue from your character's perspective! Imagine yourself as them and how they/you would talk. Try to keep your dialogue tags, sentences, and word use varied to create a natural conversation!

If you were struggling before, I hope that this (extra) long guide was able to really offer you some insight and useful tips! If you read this far, thank you!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[joe-story-corner]

The time kaleidoscope.

Jonas ran. He was nearly there, time was breaking down around him. Each fracture a glimpse into his past and the worlds. If only he could get to the reset panel he could fix the disaster that he had unwittingly unleashed. There was no definitive start point from Jonas’s perspective. One day he might have been at the beginning and the next he would be turning it on. Jonas had not made the machine out of benevolent desire for the betterment of humankind, but out of arrogance just because he could. He never stopped to think if he should.

Jonas could not remember exactly when he realised that he was living his days out of order. Too single minded in his task, he had entered a madness of obsession, re-living the same days over and over. Maybe it was when the cracks opened and he could no longer tell which event was historical and which was yet to happen that was the impetus that he needed to realise that he had made a terrible mistake. He saw dark and terrible futures if he did not fix the machine where everyone lived their life non-linearly. One day they would be an adult and the next a child. All he knew was that he had to undo the damage his arrogance had wrought.

People had always laughed at Jonas and dismissed him as mad. Through the fractures in time and space he re-lived each failure and success; he lived thousands of years in moments. He saw the heat death of the universe and the beginning of time. Jonas could see infinite possible futures through the cracks in time. He saw himself running to the reset panel in many of them, and stopping time breaking more than it already had and saving the world. He could no longer tell which version of him he was. It was like looking through a bizarre kaleidoscope of possible futures. Each possibility blurring into each other and happening at the same time, it became maddening the longer he looked but it was impossible to look away. Each future was happening to him at the same time.

Time fractured further. Jonas ran. He was nearly there, time was breaking down around him. Each fracture a glimpse into his past and the worlds. If only he could get to the reset panel he could fix the disaster that he had unwittingly unleashed…

#creative writing #short story #flash fiction #time travel #time machine #distopian #time #alternate reality #kaleidoscope #time loop

[joe-story-corner]

The Creeping Whisper

The world used to be alive with sound. People barely noticed it at first, as the world began to become quieter. At first it was the sounds that no one would notice that had gone, such as a tree falling in a forest with no one around. The world became quieter not all at once, but bit by bit. Slowly losing its vibrancy and lustre.

Nobody could agree why it was happening and nobody could agree on whether they should care or not. Whilst it was the little things that went, many people loudly and proudly proclaimed that these things did not concern them as it was not directly impacting them. People still could not agree if they should care when the creeping silence started impacting everyday sounds: the bang of a car door slightly muted and not as loud as it used to be. The sounds of people rushing to work on trains were no longer a noisy cacophony but quiet and subdued. These were all sounds that people were glad to be quieted.

However, it was not just the everyday noises that had begun to quieten and disappear from the world. It was also the joyful sounds of music and laughter that began to disappear. The loudest voices remained those that proudly declared that these were excesses and we did not need music of laughter to be happy and that ignorance is in fact bliss. People began finding alternatives to the sounds they missed; if instruments would no longer make sound they would make it themselves with their voices. This carried on for a while until this too began to fade.

Eventually the whole world was quieted until the loudest sound was a whisper. Nobody could make a sound louder than a whisper. True despair set in at this point as they knew that before long there would be nothing but silence. Bizarre scenes swept the planet of people silently rioting against the injustice of the inexplicable silence; the only sounds made were their quiet whispering.

On the day of the last whisper there was tranquillity. Acceptance that everything to be done to find a solution had been done. The people who had previously been the loudest about the silencing were now the quietest. They had seen for themselves now the consequences of the stagnation and inaction they advocated for. They wept, and the world wept, for it only now realised the value of what it had lost.

#short story #fiction #distopia #creative writing #whispers