In writing a story (short, novel), how to make the dialogue interesting, and natural?

Question

I wrote some short story, with many dialogue, sure, but I don't know the reader points of view. Is it interesting or not?

Answer 1

When writing dialogue, try keeping the length of the speech as short and realistic as possible and try throwing in body language to break up blocks of speech.

Example:

"I don't know," he said, scratching his head. "Maybe... dunno... yeah, I guess."

Another thing to keep in mind when writing dialogue is that this is the time when it is ok to use colloquial language (slang). That said, slang will also date very quickly - especially if you are using relatively new terms that only emerged in the last year or so.

Regional slang is also something to be wary of as only a small percentage of your readers will understand what the words mean. In these situations a publisher will almost always have their editing team suggest you change any dubious words to something more widely understood. If you are getting your story published, that is.

Dialogue can also be used as an insight into your character's way of thinking. The words they choose can often tell more of their personality than how they say it. For example, consider the following:

1) "Hello Mary," John said. "How are you?"
"Good thank you, how are you?"

(pretty boring, huh?)

2) "Hello Mary," John said. "How are you?"
"What do you mean by that?"

(sounds like these two have some unresolved issues. Or maybe she's just highly suspicious or bitter.)

Something you can do to make your dialogue sound more natural is to keep it as short as possible. In the real world no one gets a chance to talk for long, uninterrupted periods of time. People just don't have that kind of attention span when it comes to listening.

If you simply must have your character blather away with a long speech, try getting one of your other characters interrupt with a "Get to the point, John! Did Mary come home last night or not?"

Also, as a rule, if dialogue does not reveal something about the character or push the story forward, cut it out. Meaningless chatter will only bore a reader. In the real world people fill their sentences with umm and ahh and mmmn, but keep that to a minimum in dialogue (one rule is to restrict it to one character only, and a secondary character at that).

Hope that helps!
Mara

Answer 2

Go for something that's totally different. Something that is so stupid to other people that they say is the lamest thing ever. That is the start of something different that might be good for you. Start off on someone else's work but twist it and bend it till it's what you want for your book. Make sure that it ends as something completely unrelated to the idea you started with. That way you won't get sued by the author. : ) What bugs me to no end is how some books start out strong then fade and get all mushy. That kills the story and makes me want to throw it on the ground and burn it. A little bit of romance would be good but if your going put adventure and action in your book ease up of the lovey parts. Anothing thing is have a good genera that keeps people glued to the book. If it's something crappy with no real gripping power that seems boring to no end I don't read it. I do that with a lot of books. And summary on the back has to be good or I avoid a book completely. XD

Answer 3

close your eyes and just type....seriously. If you are relaxed and not FOCUSED on what you are doin then things will come more natural to you. Write what you see, describe everything. Touch, smells, sights, thoughts on the sights... Also make it seem like you are talkin to the reader. That way they feel included. I do it with all of my writings. That's just me though. Do what is best for you. Good luck, hope i helped hun.

Answer 4

Pretend your the character. If you do that you can add a lot more detail and not even know it because your in the place of that character and you see/hear/feel...everything the character does. So that's a good thing.

Answer 5

The best way to write is how you speak, minus the slang. This is usually well understood by others.

Answer 6

When you ask a question, answer it. Use exclamations points.
like "Wow, that's a good story. Where did you hear this?"
"I overheard it yesterday, while standing in line at the bank."

See, questions and answer.

Answer 7

Listen to how people talk. Sit in a public place, and pay attention to what people say and how they say it.

Answer 8

just pretend you are the character, what could you possibly say in a particular situation?

Answer 9

put them in awkward situations so the explain themselves