how to write dialogue a narrative essay

How to Format Dialogue: Complete Guide

Dialogue formatting matters. Whether you’re working on an essay, novel, or any other form of creative writing. Perfectly formatted dialogue makes your work more readable and engaging for the audience.

In this article, you’ll learn the dialogue formatting rules. Also, we’ll share examples of dialogue in essays for you to see the details.

What is a Dialogue Format?

Dialogue format is a writing form authors use to present characters' communication. It's common for play scripts, literature works, and other forms of storytelling.

A good format helps the audience understand who is speaking and what they say. It makes the communication clear and enjoyable. In dialogue writing, we follow the basic grammar rules like punctuation and capitalization. They help us illustrate the speaker’s ideas.

General Rules to Follow When Formatting a Dialogue

Dialogue writing is an essential skill for both professionals and scholars . It shows your ability to express the issues and ideas of other people in different setups. The core rules of formatting are about punctuation. So, below is a quick reminder on punctuation marks’ names:

And now, to practice.

Please follow these rules for proper dialogue formatting:

•  Use quotation marks. Enclose the speaker’s words in double quotations. It helps readers distinguish between a character’s speech and a narrator’s comments.
•  Place punctuation inside quotation marks. All punctuation like commas, exclamations, or interrogation marks, go inside the double quotations.
•  Keep dialogue tags behind quotation marks. A dialogue tag is (1) words framing direct speech to convey the context and emotions of a conversation. For example, in (“I can’t believe this is you,” she replied.), the dialogue tag is “she replied.”
•  Use an ellipsis or em-dashes for pauses or interruptions. To show interruptions or pauses, end phrases with ellipses inside quotations. Em-dashes go outside quotations. No other extra marks are necessary here.
•  Remember a character’s voice.  Ensure that each character’s phrases reflect their background and personality.

5 More Rules to Know (+ Examples of Dialogue)

For proper formatting of dialogue in writing, stick to the following rules:

1. Each speaker’s saying comes in a new paragraph

Begin a new paragraph whenever a new character starts speaking. It allows you to differentiate speakers and make their conversation look more organized. (2)

“Has Mr. de Winter been in?” I said.    “Yes, Madam,” said Robert; “he came in just after two, and had a quick lunch, and then went out again. He asked for you and Frith said he thought you must have gone down to see the ship.”    “Did he say when he would be back again?” I asked.    “No, Madam.” — from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

2. Separate dialogue tags with commas

When using dialogue tags ( e.g., “she said,” “he replied,”), separate them with commas. 

For example:

“You’ve got to do something right now , ” Aaron said , “Mom is really hurting. She says you have to drive her to the hospital.” “Actually, Dad , ” said Caleb, sidling in with his catalog , “There’s someplace you can drive me, too.” “No, Caleb.” — from The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

3. When quoting within dialogue, place single quotes

If a character cites somebody or something while speaking, we call it a reported dialogue. In this case, use single quotations within double ones you place for a direct speech. It will help readers see that it’s a quote.

John started to cry. “When you said, ‘I never wanted to meet you again in my life!’ It hurts my feelings.”

4. You can divide a character’s long speech into paragraphs

Dialogue writing is different when a person speaks for a longer time. It’s fine to divide it into shorter paragraphs. Ensure the proper quotation marks placing:

 The first quotation mark goes at the beginning of the dialogue. Each later paragraph also starts with it until that direct speech ends.

 The second quotation mark — the one “closing” the monologue — goes at the dialogue’s end.

Josphat took a deep breath and began. “ Here’s the things about lions. They’re dangerous creatures. They only know how to kill. Have you ever seen a lion in an open area? Probably not. Because if you had you’d be dead now. “ I saw a lion once. I was fetching firewood to cook lunch. All of a sudden I found myself face to face with a lion. My heart stopped. I knew it was my end on earth. If it wasn’t the poachers we wouldn’t be having this talk. ”

Yet, you can keep a long text as a whole by adding some context with dialogue tags. Like here:

As you can see, there’s no quotation mark at the end of the paragraph in red. It’s because the next “Ha! ha!” paragraph continues the character’s speech.

5. Use action beats

Describe actions to provide context and keep readers engaged. Help them “hear” your characters. Punctuation also helps here: exclamation (!) or interrogation with exclamations (?!) demonstrate the corresponding tone of your narrative.

He slammed the door and shouted , “I can’t believe you did that ! “

Mistakes to Avoid When Formatting Dialogue

A good dialogue is a powerful instrument for a writer to show the character’s nature to the audience. Below are the mistakes to avoid in formatting if you want to reach that goal.

 So, please don’t :

• Allow characters to speak for too long. Writing long paragraphs will bore the reader, making them skip through your speech. Short but sweet talk is the best. When writing, aim to be brief, dynamic, and purposeful. If your character speaks too much, generating opinion essays , ensure this speech makes sense and serves a bigger purpose.
• Overburden dialogue with exposition.  Avoid telling the story background or building sophisticated words in your characters’ speeches. Instead, reveal the narrative content in small bursts and blend it around the rest of the prose. Convey it through your character’s actions and thoughts rather than summaries and explanations.
• Create rhetorical flourishes. Make your characters sound natural. Let them speak the way they’d do if they were real people. Consider their age, profession, and cultural background — and choose lexical items that fit them most.
• Use repetitive dialogue tags. Constant “he asked” and “she said” sounds monotonous. Diversify your tags: use power verbs, synonyms, and dialogue beats.

Frequently Asked Questions by Students

How to format dialogue in an essay.

Formatting a dialogue in an essay is tricky for most students. Here’s how to do it: Enclose the speaker’s words with double quotations and start every other character’s line from a new paragraph. Stick to the citation styles like APA or MLA to ensure credibility. 

How to format dialogue in a novel?

 A dialogue in a novel follows all the standard rules for clarity and readability. Ensure to use attributions, quotation marks, and paragraph format. It makes your dialogue flow, grabbing the reader’s attention.

How to format dialogue in a book?

Dialogue formatting in a book is critical for storytelling. It helps the audience distinguish the hero’s words. Follow the general rules we’ve discussed above:

Use double quotations and isolate dialogue tags with commas. Remember to place the discussion in blocks for better readability.

How to format dialogue between two characters?

A two-character dialogue offers the best way to prove successful formatting skills. Ensure you use action beats, quotations, and attribution tags. It allows readers to follow the conversation and understand it better.

What is the purpose of dialogue in a narrative essay?  

Dialogue writing is the exchange of views between two or more people to reach a consensus. It reveals the character’s attitude and argumentation. Last but not least, it helps convey the descriptive nature of your narrative essay.

References:

• https://valenciacollege.edu/students/learning-support/winter-park/communications/documents/WritingDialogueCSSCTipSheet_Revised_.pdf
• https://www.ursinus.edu/live/files/1158-formatting-dialogue
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Writing Dialogue [20 Best Examples + Formatting Guide]

Have you ever found yourself cringing at clunky dialogue while reading a book or watching a movie? I know I have.

It’s like nails on a chalkboard, completely ruining the experience. But on the flip side, well-written dialogue can transform a story. It’s the magic that makes characters leap off the page, immersing us in their world.

As a writer, I’m fascinated by the mechanics of great dialogue.

So here are 20 of the best examples of writing dialogue that brings your story to life.

Example 1: Dialogue that Reveals Character

Table of Contents

One of the most powerful functions of dialogue is to shed light on your characters’ personalities.

The way they speak – their word choice, tone, even their hesitations – can tell us so much about who they are. Check out this example:

“Look, I ain’t gonna sugarcoat this,” the detective growled, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the chair. “You were spotted leaving the scene, and the murder weapon’s got your prints all over it.”

Without any lengthy description, we get a sense of this detective as a no-nonsense, direct type of guy.

Example 2: Dialogue that Builds Tension

Dialogue can become this amazing tool to ratchet up the tension in a scene.

Short, clipped exchanges and carefully placed silences can leave the reader on the edge of their seat.

Here’s how it might play out:

“Do you hear that?” Sarah whispered. “Hear what?” A scratching noise echoed from the attic. Sarah’s eyes widened. “It’s coming back.”

The suspense is killing me just writing that!

Example 3: Dialogue that Drives the Plot

Conversations aren’t just about characters sitting around and chatting.

Great dialogue should actively push the story forward. It can set up a conflict, reveal key information, or change the course of events.

Take a look at this:

“I’ve made my decision,” the king declared, the crown heavy on his brow. “We go to war.”

A single line, and the whole trajectory of the story shifts.

Formatting Tips: The Basics

Now, before we get carried away, let’s cover some essential dialogue formatting rules.

Think of these as the grammar of a good conversation.

• Quotation Marks:  Yep, those little squiggles are your best friend. They signal to the reader: “Hey! Someone’s talking!”
• New Speaker, New Paragraph:  Whenever a different character starts talking, give them a new paragraph. It’s all about keeping things easy to follow.
• Dialogue Tags:  These are the little phrases like “he said” or “she replied.” Use them, but try not to overuse them. A well-placed action beat can often do a better job of showing who’s speaking.

Example 4: Dialogue that Creates Humor

Dialogue can be ridiculously funny when done well.

The key? Snappy exchanges, playful misunderstandings, and just a dash of absurdity. Consider this:

“I saw the weirdest thing at the grocery store today,” Tom said, “A woman arguing with a head of lettuce.” “Was she winning?” Lily asked, a grin playing on her lips.

You can almost hear the deadpan delivery, can’t you?

Example 5: Dialogue that Shows Relationships

The way characters speak to each other says a ton about the dynamics between them.

Is there warmth, hostility, an underlying power struggle? Dialogue can paint a crystal-clear picture. Imagine this exchange:

“You didn’t do the dishes again?” Sarah sighed, hands planted on her hips. “Aw, c’mon babe. I was busy,” Mike whined, avoiding her gaze.

We instantly sense the long-suffering tone from Sarah and the playful guilt from Mike.

Example 6: Dialogue with Subtext

The most interesting dialogue often has layers. What the characters say might not be exactly what they mean.

This is where subtext comes in – the unspoken thoughts and feelings bubbling beneath the surface.

Take this snippet:

“It’s a nice ring,” Emily said, her voice flat. “You don’t like it?” Mark’s brow furrowed. Emily shrugged. “It’s fine.”

Is Emily truly indifferent? Or is she masking disappointment, perhaps a sense of something not being quite right? Subtext makes us read between the lines.

Formatting Tips: Getting Fancy

Now, let’s spice things up with a few more advanced formatting tricks:

• Ellipses (…):  These little dots are perfect for showing a character trailing off, hesitating, or searching for words. Example: “I…I don’t know what to say.”
• Em Dashes (—):  These guys can interrupt a thought or indicate a sudden change in direction. Example: “I was going to apologize, but then — well, you’re still being a jerk.”
• Internal Dialogue:  Instead of quotation marks, sometimes you’ll want to italicize a character’s inner thoughts. Example:  Why did I say that? I’m such an idiot.

Cautionary Note

It’s important to remember: dialogue shouldn’t feel like an interrogation. Avoid rigid “question-answer, question-answer” patterns. Real conversations flow and meander naturally.

Example 7: Dialogue with Dialects and Accents

Regional dialects and accents can bring so much flavor to your characters, but it’s a delicate balance.

You want to add authenticity without it becoming a caricature or making it hard to understand.

Here’s a subtle example:

“Well, I’ll be darned,” drawled the farmer, squinting at the sky. “Looks like a storm’s brewin’.”

Notice how just a few word choices and a slight change in pronunciation hint at the speaker’s background.

Example 8: Dialogue in Groups

Writing conversations with more than two people can get chaotic fast. The key is clarity.

Here are a few tips:

• Strong Dialogue Tags:  Sometimes, you need to be more specific than just “he said” or “she said”. Example: “Don’t be ridiculous,” scoffed Sarah.
• Action Beats:  Break up chunks of dialogue with actions that show who’s speaking. Example: Tom slammed his fist on the table. “I won’t stand for this!”

Example 9: Dialogue Over the Phone (or Other Technology)

Conversations where characters aren’t physically together pose unique challenges.

You can’t rely on body language cues. Instead, focus on conveying tone and potential misunderstandings.

For instance:

“Hello?” Sarah’s voice crackled through the phone. A long pause. “Sarah, is that you?” “Mom? Why are you whispering?”

Instantly there’s a sense of distance and something not being quite right.

Example 10: Inner Monologue with a Twist

We often think of internal dialogue as a single character reflecting, but sometimes our inner voices can argue.

This can be a powerful way to showcase internal conflict.

Here’s how it might look:

You should just tell him how you feel, one voice chimed. Are you crazy? the other shrieked back. He’ll never feel the same way .

This creates a vivid picture of a character torn between opposing desires.

Example 11: Dialogue With a Manipulative Character

Manipulative characters often use language as a weapon.

They might use guilt trips, flattery, or veiled threats to get what they want.

Consider this:

“After everything I’ve done for you…” The old woman sighed, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t expect gratitude.”

Notice how she doesn’t directly ask for anything, instead hinting at a debt, leaving the listener feeling uneasy and obligated.

Example 12: Dialogue Across Time Periods

If you’re writing historical fiction or anything with time travel elements, you’ll need to capture the distinct speech patterns of different eras.

Imagine this exchange:

“Gadzooks! What manner of contraption is this?” The Victorian gentleman exclaimed, staring in bewilderment at the smartphone. “It’s a phone,” the teenager replied, barely suppressing a laugh. “Let me show you.”

This little snippet highlights the potential for both humor and linguistic challenges when worlds collide.

Formatting Tip: Dialogue Without Tags

Sometimes, for a rapid-fire or dreamlike effect, you might want to ditch the “he said” or “she asked” altogether.

It’s a bold move, but it can be effective if done sparingly.

Check this out:

“Where are you going?” “Away.” “When will you be back?” “I don’t know.” “Please don’t leave me.”

This creates a sense of urgency, the raw exchange forcing us to focus solely on the words themselves.

Example 13: Dialogue that Shows Transformation

A great way to showcase how a character develops is through shifts in how they speak.

Maybe they become bolder, quieter, or their vocabulary changes.

Let’s see an example:

Scene 1: “I-I don’t know,” Emily whimpered, cowering in the corner. Scene 2 (Later in the story): “That’s it. I’m not taking this anymore!” Emily declared, her chin held high.

The dialogue itself reflects her transformation from victim to someone ready to stand up for herself.

Example 14: Dialogue that’s Just Plain Weird

It’s okay to get strange sometimes.

Absurdist humor or unsettling conversations can add a unique flavor to your story. Just be sure it fits the overall tone.

“Do you believe in cucumbers?” the man asked, his eyes wide and unblinking. “Excuse me?” “Cucumbers, my dear. Agents of the underground vegetable kingdom.”

This immediately creates a sense of oddness and perhaps a touch of unease. Is this guy crazy, or is there something more going on?

Example 15: Dialogue with a Purpose

Remember, good dialogue isn’t just about being entertaining.

It should move your story along. Here are some functions dialogue can serve:

• Providing Exposition:  Sometimes, you need to inform the reader of backstory or world-building details. Trickle information through natural conversation rather than an information dump.
• Foreshadowing:  Subtle hints within a conversation can foreshadow future events or create a sense of unease for the reader.
• Revealing a Twist:  A single line of dialogue can completely flip the script and reframe everything that came before.

Example 16: Dialogue with Non-Verbal Elements

So much of communication happens beyond just words.

Sighs, laughs, and gestures can add richness to dialogue on the page.

“I’m fine,” she said, crossing her arms and looking away.

Notice how the body language contradicts her words, hinting at inner turmoil.

Example 17: Silence as Dialogue

Sometimes, what isn’t said is the most powerful thing of all.

A pregnant pause or a character refusing to speak can convey volumes.

Imagine this:

“So, will you help me or not?” Tom pleaded. Sarah stared at him, her lips a thin line. Finally, she turned and walked away.

The lack of a verbal response speaks louder than any words could.

Example 18: Dialogue With Humorous Effect

A well-timed O.S. voice can deliver a funny remark or punchline, undercutting the seriousness of a scene or taking a moment in an unexpected comedic direction.

INT. CLASSROOM – DAY The teacher drones on about the causes of the American Revolution, his voice as dull as the worn textbook in front of him. KEVIN tries to stifle his yawns, failing miserably. STUDENT (O.S.) Is he ever going to stop talking? My brain just turned to mush. Snickers ripple through the class. The teacher pauses, a look of annoyance flickering across his face. Kevin shoots a desperate look towards the source of the O.S. voice.

• Timing is everything. The best comedic O.S. lines act as a witty reaction to something else happening in a scene. The student’s comment comes right as Kevin’s boredom peaks.
• Subverting expectations is funny. The audience expects the scene to continue with a stern reprimand for speaking out of turn, but the script doesn’t give us that. This leaves room for further humor.
• Consider the tone of the voice – sarcastic, matter-of-fact, or outright whiny? This adds to the comedic effect.

Example 19: Dialogue With Unexpected Reveals

Think of this as a surprise twist using O.S. dialogue.

The audience (and maybe even some characters) are led to believe one thing, only for an O.S. voice to reveal something completely unexpected, shifting the scene’s dynamic.

INT. POLICE INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHTDETECTIVE HARRIS paces in front of a nervous SUSPECT. Photos of the crime scene are scattered on the table. HARRIS Don’t lie to me! We’ve got witnesses who saw you at the scene. SUSPECT I – I swear, I had nothing to do with it! I was… I was with my girlfriend. Harris leans in, a triumphant glint in her eyes. She claps her hands sharply, startling the suspect. WOMAN (O.S.) That’s a lie! He was nowhere near me last night! The suspect whips around. His face pales as we hear the sound of the interrogation room door swinging open…

• The power lies in the build-up. The initial dialogue and the characters’ reactions should lead the audience to believe one outcome, making the O.S. interruption all the more impactful.
• Consider who speaks the O.S. line. Is it someone the audience recognizes, or a totally new character whose identity becomes a new mystery?
• Play with the proximity of the voice. Is it right outside the room, adding to the dramatic reveal as the door opens, or is it more distant – perhaps a voice over an intercom – for an even more unsettling effect?

Example 20: Dialogue With a “Haunted” Feeling

Explanation: O.S. can be used to create an eerie or unsettling atmosphere, particularly in horror or psychological thrillers. This could be unexplained voices, creepy whispers, or sounds that hint at a supernatural (or simply unnerving) presence.

INT. OLD MANSION – NIGHTSARAH explores the abandoned mansion, flashlight cutting through the thick dust. Cobwebs cling to every surface. A faint WHISPER drifts through the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Sarah freezes. VOICE (O.S.) Get out… leave this place… Sarah’s breath catches in her throat. She hesitantly follows the direction of the voice, her flashlight beam trembling.

• Less is more. The vaguer and more inexplicable the O.S. voice, the more chilling it becomes.
• Layer sounds for a full creepy effect. Combine whispers with unexpected bangs, creaks, or the faint sound of footsteps following behind Sarah.
• Play with audience expectations. If the script initially leads the audience to think the house is merely abandoned, the O.S. voices become that much more terrifying.

Here is a good video about writing dialogue:

Additional Dialogue Tips & Tricks

• Read Your Dialogue Aloud:  This is the best way to catch awkward phrasing or unnatural rhythms. Our ears often pick up on what our eyes might miss.
• Less is More:  Don’t feel the need to have every single interaction be profound. Sometimes a simple “Hey” or “Thanks” can do the job just fine.
• Eavesdrop:  Paying attention to real-life conversations is fantastic research. Note the pauses, the filler words, the way people interrupt each other.

Final Thoughts: Writing Dialogue

Phew! We did it!

Does that feel like a solid collection of dialogue examples? We haven’t covered absolutely every scenario, but I hope these illustrate the vast potential within dialogue to bring your stories to life.

Read This Next:

• How To Use Action Tags in Dialogue: Ultimate Guide
• How Do Writers Fill a Natural Pause in Dialogue? [7 Crazy Effective Ways]
• Can You Start a Novel with Dialogue?
• How To Write A Southern Accent (17 Tips + Examples)
• How to Write a French Accent (13 Best Tips with Examples)

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How to Write Dialogue: 7 Great Tips for Writers (With Examples)

By Hannah Yang

Great dialogue serves multiple purposes. It moves your plot forward. It develops your characters and it makes the story more engaging.

It’s not easy to do all these things at once, but when you master the art of writing dialogue, readers won’t be able to put your book down.

In this article, we will teach you the rules for writing dialogue and share our top dialogue tips that will make your story sing.

Dialogue Rules

How to format dialogue, 7 tips for writing dialogue in a story or book, dialogue examples.

Before we look at tips for writing powerful dialogue , let’s start with an overview of basic dialogue rules.

• Start a new paragraph each time there’s a new speaker. Whenever a new character begins to speak, you should give them their own paragraph. This rule makes it easier for the reader to follow the conversation.
• Keep all speech between quotation marks . Everything that a character says should go between quotation marks, including the final punctuation marks. For example, periods and commas should always come before the final quotation mark, not after.
• Don’t use end quotations for paragraphs within long speeches. If a single character speaks for such a long time that you break their speech up into multiple paragraphs, you should omit the quotation marks at the end of each paragraph until they stop talking. The final quotation mark indicates that their speech is over.
• Use single quotes when a character quotes someone else. Whenever you have a quote within a quote, you should use single quotation marks (e.g. She said, “He had me at ‘hello.’”)
• Dialogue tags are optional. A dialogue tag is anything that indicates which character is speaking and how, such as “she said,” “he whispered,” or “I shouted.” You can use dialogue tags if you want to give the reader more information about who’s speaking, but you can also choose to omit them if you want the dialogue to flow more naturally. We’ll be discussing more about this rule in our tips below.

Let’s walk through some examples of how to format dialogue .

The simplest formatting option is to write a line of speech without a dialogue tag. In this case, the entire line of speech goes within the quotation marks, including the period at the end.

• Example: “I think I need a nap.”

Another common formatting option is to write a single line of speech that ends with a dialogue tag.

Here, you should separate the speech from the dialogue tag with a comma, which should go inside the quotation marks.

• Example: “I think I need a nap,” Maria said.

You can also write a line of speech that starts with a dialogue tag. Again, you separate the dialogue tag with a comma, but this time, the comma goes outside the quotation marks.

• Example: Maria said, “I think I need a nap.”

As an alternative to a simple dialogue tag, you can write a line of speech accompanied by an action beat. In this case, you should use a period rather than a comma, because the action beat is a full sentence.

• Example: Maria sat down on the bed. “I think I need a nap.”

Finally, you can choose to include an action beat while the character is talking.

In this case, you would use em-dashes to separate the action from the dialogue, to indicate that the action happens without a pause in the speech.

• Example: “I think I need”—Maria sat down on the bed—“a nap.”

Now that we’ve covered the basics, we can move on to the more nuanced aspects of writing dialogue.

Here are our seven favorite tips for writing strong, powerful dialogue that will keep your readers engaged.

Tip #1: Create Character Voices

Dialogue is a great way to reveal your characters. What your characters say, and how they say it, can tell us so much about what kind of people they are.

Some characters are witty and gregarious. Others are timid and unobtrusive.

Speech patterns vary drastically from person to person.

To make someone stop talking to them, one character might say “I would rather not talk about this right now,” while another might say, “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”

When you’re writing dialogue, think about your character’s education level, personality, and interests.

• What kind of slang do they use?
• Do they prefer long or short sentences?
• Do they ask questions or make assertions?

Each character should have their own voice.

Ideally, you want to write dialogue that lets your reader identify the person speaking at any point in your story just by looking at what’s between the quotation marks.

Tip #2: Write Realistic Dialogue

Good dialogue should sound natural. Listen to how people talk in real life and try to replicate it on the page when you write dialogue.

Don’t be afraid to break the rules of grammar, or to use an occasional exclamation point to punctuate dialogue.

It’s okay to use contractions , sentence fragments , and run-on sentences , even if you wouldn’t use them in other parts of the story.

This doesn’t mean that realistic dialogue should sound exactly like the way people speak in the real world.

If you’ve ever read a court transcript, you know that real-life speech is riddled with “ums” and “ahs” and repeated words and phrases. A few paragraphs of this might put your readers to sleep.

Compelling dialogue should sound like a real conversation, while still being wittier, smoother, and better worded than real speech.

Tip #3: Simplify Your Dialogue Tags

A dialogue tag is anything that tells the reader which character is talking within that same paragraph, such as “she said” or “I asked.”

When you’re writing dialogue, remember that simple dialogue tags are the most effective .

Often, you can omit dialogue tags after the conversation has started flowing, especially if only two characters are participating.

The reader will be able to keep up with who’s speaking as long as you start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

When you do need to use a dialogue tag, a simple “he said” or “she said” will do the trick.

Our brains generally skip over the word “said” when we’re reading, while other dialogue tags are a distraction.

A common mistake beginner writers make is to avoid using the word “said.”

Characters in amateur novels tend to mutter, whisper, declare, or chuckle at every line of dialogue. This feels overblown and distracts from the actual story.

Another common mistake is to attach an adverb to the word “said.” Characters in amateur novels rarely just say things—they have to say things loudly, quietly, cheerfully, or angrily.

If you’re writing great dialogue, readers should be able to figure out whether your character is cheerful or angry from what’s within the quotation marks.

The only exception to this rule is if the dialogue tag contradicts the dialogue itself. For example, consider this sentence:

• “You’ve ruined my life,” she said angrily.

The word “angrily” is redundant here because the words inside the quotation marks already imply that the character is speaking angrily.

In contrast, consider this sentence:

• “You’ve ruined my life,” she said thoughtfully.

Here, the word “thoughtfully” is well-placed because it contrasts with what we might otherwise assume. It adds an additional nuance to the sentence inside the quotation marks.

You can use the ProWritingAid dialogue check when you write dialogue to make sure your dialogue tags are pulling their weight and aren’t distracting readers from the main storyline.

Sign up for your free ProWritingAid account to check your dialogue tags today.

Tip #4: Balance Speech with Action

When you’re writing dialogue, you can use action beats —descriptions of body language or physical action—to show what each character is doing throughout the conversation.

Learning how to write action beats is an important component of learning how to write dialogue.

Good dialogue becomes even more interesting when the characters are doing something active at the same time.

You can watch people in real life, or even characters in movies, to see what kinds of body language they have. Some pick at their fingernails. Some pace the room. Some tap their feet on the floor.

Including physical action when writing dialogue can have multiple benefits:

• It changes the pace of your dialogue and makes the rhythm more interesting
• It prevents “white room syndrome,” which is when a scene feels like it’s happening in a white room because it’s all dialogue and no description
• It shows the reader who’s speaking without using speaker tags

You can decide how often to include physical descriptions in each scene. All dialogue has an ebb and flow to it, and you can use beats to control the pace of your dialogue scenes.

If you want a lot of tension in your scene, you can use fewer action beats to let the dialogue ping-pong back and forth.

If you want a slower scene, you can write dialogue that includes long, detailed action beats to help the reader relax.

You should start a separate sentence, or even a new paragraph, for each of these longer beats.

Tip #5: Write Conversations with Subtext

Every conversation has subtext , because we rarely say exactly what we mean. The best dialogue should include both what is said and what is not said.

I once had a roommate who cared a lot about the tidiness of our apartment, but would never say it outright. We soon figured out that whenever she said something like “I might bring some friends over tonight,” what she meant was “Please wash your dishes, because there are no clean plates left for my friends to use.”

When you’re writing dialogue, it’s important to think about what’s not being said. Even pleasant conversations can hide a lot beneath the surface.

Is one character secretly mad at the other?

Is one secretly in love with the other?

Is one thinking about tomorrow’s math test and only pretending to pay attention to what the other person is saying?

Personally, I find it really hard to use subtext when I write dialogue from scratch.

In my first drafts I let my characters say what they really mean. Then, when I’m editing, I go back and figure out how to convey the same information through subtext instead.

Tip #6: Show, Don’t Tell

When I was in high school, I once wrote a story in which the protagonist’s mother tells her: “As you know, Susan, your dad left us when you were five.”

I’ve learned a lot about the writing craft since high school, but it doesn’t take a brilliant writer to figure out that this is not something any mother would say to her daughter in real life.

The reason I wrote that line of dialogue was because I wanted to tell the reader when Susan last saw her father, but I didn’t do it in a realistic way.

Don’t shoehorn information into your characters’ conversations if they’re not likely to say it to each other.

One useful trick is to have your characters get into an argument.

You can convey a lot of information about a topic through their conflicting opinions, without making it sound like either of the characters is saying things for the reader’s benefit.

Here’s one way my high school self could have conveyed the same information in a more realistic way in just a few lines:

Susan: “Why didn’t you tell me Dad was leaving? Why didn’t you let me say goodbye?”

Mom: “You were only five. I wanted to protect you.”

Tip #7: Keep Your Dialogue Concise

Dialogue tends to flow out easily when you’re drafting your story, so in the editing process, you’ll need to be ruthless. Cut anything that doesn’t move the story forward.

Try not to write dialogue that feels like small talk.

You can eliminate most hellos and goodbyes, or summarize them instead of showing them. Readers don’t want to waste their time reading dialogue that they hear every day.

In addition, try not to write dialogue with too many trigger phrases, which are questions that trigger the next line of dialogue, such as:

• “And then what?”
• “What do you mean?”

It’s tempting to slip these in when you’re writing dialogue because they keep the conversation flowing. I still catch myself doing this from time to time.

Remember that you don’t need three lines of dialogue when one line could accomplish the same thing.

Let’s look at some dialogue examples from successful novels that follow each of our seven tips.

Dialogue Example #1: How to Create Character Voice

Let’s start with an example of a character with a distinct voice from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

“What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can’t you?” Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front. “Oooh,” said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. “Can you hold him still, Harry?”

Most readers could figure out that this was Colin Creevey speaking, even if his name hadn’t been mentioned in the passage.

This is because Colin Creevey is the only character who speaks with such extreme enthusiasm, even at a time when Ron is belching slugs.

This snippet of written dialogue does a great job of showing us Colin’s personality and how much he worships his hero Harry.

Dialogue Example #2: How to Write Realistic Dialogue

Here’s an example of how to write dialogue that feels realistic from A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

“As much as I love this land, some days I think about leaving it,” Babi said. “Where to?” “Anyplace where it’s easy to forget. Pakistan first, I suppose. For a year, maybe two. Wait for our paperwork to get processed.” “And then?” “And then, well, it is a big world. Maybe America. Somewhere near the sea. Like California.”

Notice the punctuation and grammar that these two characters use when they speak.

There are many sentence fragments in this conversation like, “Anyplace where it’s easy to forget.” and “Somewhere near the sea.”

Babi often omits the verbs from his sentences, just like people do in real life. He speaks in short fragments instead of long, flowing paragraphs.

This dialogue shows who Babi is and feels similar to the way a real person would talk, while still remaining concise.

Dialogue Example #3: How to Simplify Your Dialogue Tags

Here’s an example of effective dialogue tags in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

In this passage, the narrator’s been caught exploring the forbidden west wing of her new husband’s house, and she’s trying to make excuses for being there.

“I lost my way,” I said, “I was trying to find my room.” “You have come to the opposite side of the house,” she said; “this is the west wing.” “Yes, I know,” I said. “Did you go into any of the rooms?” she asked me. “No,” I said. “No, I just opened a door, I did not go in. Everything was dark, covered up in dust sheets. I’m sorry. I did not mean to disturb anything. I expect you like to keep all this shut up.” “If you wish to open up the rooms I will have it done,” she said; “you have only to tell me. The rooms are all furnished, and can be used.” “Oh, no,” I said. “No. I did not mean you to think that.”

In this passage, the only dialogue tags Du Maurier uses are “I said,” “she said,” and “she asked.”

Even so, you can feel the narrator’s dread and nervousness. Her emotions are conveyed through what she actually says, rather than through the dialogue tags.

This is a splendid example of evocative speech that doesn’t need fancy dialogue tags to make it come to life.

Dialogue Example #4: How to Balance Speech with Action

Let’s look at a passage from The Princess Bride by William Goldman, where dialogue is melded with physical action.

With a smile the hunchback pushed the knife harder against Buttercup’s throat. It was about to bring blood. “If you wish her dead, by all means keep moving," Vizzini said. The man in black froze. “Better,” Vizzini nodded. No sound now beneath the moonlight. “I understand completely what you are trying to do,” the Sicilian said finally, “and I want it quite clear that I resent your behavior. You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen, and I think it quite ungentlemanly.” “Let me explain,” the man in black began, starting to edge forward. “You’re killing her!” the Sicilian screamed, shoving harder with the knife. A drop of blood appeared now at Buttercup’s throat, red against white.

In this passage, William Goldman brings our attention seamlessly from the action to the dialogue and back again.

This makes the scene twice as interesting, because we’re paying attention not just to what Vizzini and the man in black are saying, but also to what they’re doing.

This is a great way to keep tension high and move the plot forward.

Dialogue Example #5: How to Write Conversations with Subtext

This example from Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card shows how to write dialogue with subtext.

Here is the scene when Ender and his sister Valentine are reunited for the first time, after Ender’s spent most of his childhood away from home training to be a soldier.

Ender didn’t wave when she walked down the hill toward him, didn’t smile when she stepped onto the floating boat slip. But she knew that he was glad to see her, knew it because of the way his eyes never left her face. “You’re bigger than I remembered,” she said stupidly. “You too,” he said. “I also remembered that you were beautiful.” “Memory does play tricks on us.” “No. Your face is the same, but I don’t remember what beautiful means anymore. Come on. Let’s go out into the lake.”

In this scene, we can tell that Valentine missed her brother terribly, and that Ender went through a lot of trauma at Battle School, without either of them saying it outright.

The conversation could have started with Valentine saying “I missed you,” but instead, she goes for a subtler opening: “You’re bigger than I remembered.”

Similarly, Ender could say “You have no idea what I’ve been through,” but instead he says, “I don’t remember what beautiful means anymore.”

We can deduce what each of these characters is thinking and feeling from what they say and from what they leave unsaid.

Dialogue Example #6: How to Show, Not Tell

Let’s look at an example from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This scene is the story’s first introduction of the ancient creatures called the Chandrian.

“I didn’t know the Chandrian were demons,” the boy said. “I’d heard—” “They ain’t demons,” Jake said firmly. “They were the first six people to refuse Tehlu’s choice of the path, and he cursed them to wander the corners—” “Are you telling this story, Jacob Walker?” Cob said sharply. “Cause if you are, I’ll just let you get on with it.” The two men glared at each other for a long moment. Eventually Jake looked away, muttering something that could, conceivably, have been an apology. Cob turned back to the boy. “That’s the mystery of the Chandrian,” he explained. “Where do they come from? Where do they go after they’ve done their bloody deeds? Are they men who sold their souls? Demons? Spirits? No one knows.” Cob shot Jake a profoundly disdainful look. “Though every half-wit claims he knows...”

The three characters taking part in this conversation all know what the Chandrian are.

Imagine if Cob had said “As we all know, the Chandrian are mysterious demon-spirits.” We would feel like he was talking to us, not to the two other characters.

Instead, Rothfuss has all three characters try to explain their own understanding of what the Chandrian are, and then shoot each other’s explanations down.

When Cob reprimands Jake for interrupting him and then calls him a half-wit for claiming to know what he’s talking about, it feels like a realistic interaction.

This is a clever way for Rothfuss to introduce the Chandrian in a believable way.

Dialogue Example #7: How to Keep Your Dialogue Concise

Here’s an example of concise dialogue from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

“Do you blame me for flunking you, boy?” he said. “No, sir! I certainly don’t,” I said. I wished to hell he’d stop calling me “boy” all the time. He tried chucking my exam paper on the bed when he was through with it. Only, he missed again, naturally. I had to get up again and pick it up and put it on top of the Atlantic Monthly. It’s boring to do that every two minutes. “What would you have done in my place?” he said. “Tell the truth, boy.” Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would’ve done exactly the same thing if I’d been in his place, and how most people didn’t appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull.

Here, the last paragraph diverges from the prior ones. After the teacher says “Tell the truth, boy,” the rest of the conversation is summarized, rather than shown.

The summary of what the narrator says in the last paragraph—“I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff”—serves to hammer home that this is the type of “old bull” that the narrator has fed to his teachers over and over before.

It doesn’t need to be shown because it’s not important to the narrator—it’s just “all that stuff.”

Salinger could have written out the entire conversation in dialogue, but instead he kept the dialogue concise.

Final Words

Now you know how to write clear, effective dialogue! Start with the basic rules for dialogue and try implementing the more advanced tips as you go.

What are your favorite dialogue tips? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you know how to craft memorable, compelling characters? Download this free book now:

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Writing A Narrative Essay

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Using Dialogue

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Examples of Dialogue Tags

Examples of Dialogue Tags:

interrupted

Ebooks in Galileo

Additional Links & Resources

• Dialogue Cheat Sheet

Dialogue is an exchange of conversation between two or more people or characters in a story. As a literary style, dialogue helps to advance the plot, reveal a character's thoughts or emotions, or shows the character's reaction within the story. Dialogue gives life to the story and supports the story's atmosphere.

There are two types of dialogue that can be used in an narrative essay.

Direct dialogue  is written between inverted commas or quotes. These are the actual spoken words of a character 

Indirect dialogue  is basically telling someone about what another person said

Formatting Dialogue

Dialogue is an important part of a narrative essay, However formatting dialogue can be troublesome at times.

When formatting dialogue use these rules and examples to help with your formatting:

Place double quotation marks at the beginning an end of spoken words.  The quotations go on the  outside  of both the words and end-of-dialogue punctuation.

• Example:  "What is going on here?" John asked.

Each speaker gets a new paragraph that is indented.

      “hi,” said John as he stretched out his hand.

           "Good Morning, how are you?" said Brad shaking John’s hand.

                      "Good. Thanks for asking," John said.

Each speaker’s actions are in the same paragraph as their dialogue.

 A  dialogue tag  is anything that indicates which character spoke and describes how they spoke.

If the tag comes before the dialogue,  use a comma straight after the tag. If the dialogue is the beginning of a sentence, capitalize the first letter. End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation (period, exclamation point, or question mark), but keep it INSIDE the quotation marks.

• Examples Before: 

James said, “I’ll never go shopping with you again!”

John said, “It's a great day to be at the beach.”

She opened the door and yelled, “Go away! Leave me alone!”

If the dialogue tag comes after the dialogue , Punctuation still goes INSIDE quotation marks. Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is  not  capitalized. End the dialogue tag with appropriate punctuation. Use comma after the quote unless it ends with a question mark or exclamation mark.

• Examples After: 

“Are you sure this is real life?” Lindsay asked.

“It’s so gloomy out,” he said.

“Are we done?” asked Brad . 

“This is not your concern!” Emma said.

If dialogue tag is in the middle of dialogue.  A comma should be used before the dialogue tag inside the closing quotation mark; Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is  not  capitalized. A comma is used after the dialogue tag, outside of quotation marks, to reintroduce the dialogue. End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation followed by the closing quotation marks. 

When it is two sentences, the first sentence will end with a punctuation mark and the second begins with a capital letter.

• Examples middle: 

“Let’s run away,” she whispered, “we wont get another chance.”

“I thought you cared.” Sandy said, hoping for an explanation. “How could you walk away?”

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Jerry whispered. “I’ll miss him.”

Questions in dialogue.  

if there is a dialogue tag, the question mark will act as a comma and you will then lowercase the first word in the dialogue tag 

• Example: What are you doing?" he asked.

if there is simply an action after the question, the question mark acts as a period and you will then capitalize the first word in the next sentence.

“Sarah, why didn't you text me back?” Jane asked.

“James, why didn’t you show up?” Carol stomped her feet in anger before slamming the door behind her.

If the question or exclamation ends the dialogue, do not use commas to separate the dialogue from dialogue tags.

• Example:  “Sarah, why didn't you text me back?” Jane asked.

If the sentence containing the dialogue is a question, then the        question mark goes outside of the quotation marks.

Did the teacher say, “The Homework is due Tomorrow”?

If you have to quote something within the dialogue.  When a character quotes someone else, use double-quotes around what your character says, then single-quotes around the speech they’re quoting.

• Example: 

"When doling out dessert, my grandmother always said, 'You may have a cookie for each hand.'"

Dashes & Ellipses:

Dashes ( — ) are used to indicate abruptly interrupted dialogue or when one character's dialogue is interrupted by another character.

Use an em dash  inside  the quotation marks to cut off the character mid-dialogue, usually with either (A) another character speaking or (B) an external action.

• Including the em dash at the end of the line of dialogue signifies that your character wasn't finished speaking.
• If the speaking character's action interrupts their own dialogue . 
• Use em dashes  outside  the quotation marks to set off a bit of action without a speech verb. 

Examples: 

• Heather ran towards Sarah with excitement. “You won’t believe what I found out—”
• "Is everything—" she started to ask, but a sharp look cut her off.
• "Look over there—" She snapped her mouth shut so she didn't give the secret away.
• "Look over there"—she pointed towards the shadow—"by the stairway."

Use ellipses (...) when a character has lost their train of thought or can't figure out what to say

• Example:  “You haven’t…” he trailed off in disbelief.

Action Beats

Action beats show what a character is doing before, during, or after their dialogue.

“This isn't right.” She squinted down at her burger. “Does this look like it is well done to you?”

She smiled. “I loved the center piece you chose.”

If you separate two complete sentences, you will simply place the action beat as its own sentence between two sets of quotes.

“I never said he could go to the concert.” Linda sighed and sat in her chair. “He lied to you again.”

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• How to write a narrative essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Narrative Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

A narrative essay tells a story. In most cases, this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay , along with the descriptive essay , allows you to get personal and creative, unlike most academic writing .

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Table of contents

What is a narrative essay for, choosing a topic, interactive example of a narrative essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about narrative essays.

When assigned a narrative essay, you might find yourself wondering: Why does my teacher want to hear this story? Topics for narrative essays can range from the important to the trivial. Usually the point is not so much the story itself, but the way you tell it.

A narrative essay is a way of testing your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way. You’re expected to think about where your story begins and ends, and how to convey it with eye-catching language and a satisfying pace.

These skills are quite different from those needed for formal academic writing. For instance, in a narrative essay the use of the first person (“I”) is encouraged, as is the use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense.

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Narrative essay assignments vary widely in the amount of direction you’re given about your topic. You may be assigned quite a specific topic or choice of topics to work with.

• Write a story about your first day of school.
• Write a story about your favorite holiday destination.

You may also be given prompts that leave you a much wider choice of topic.

• Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself.
• Write about an achievement you are proud of. What did you accomplish, and how?

In these cases, you might have to think harder to decide what story you want to tell. The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to talk about a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

For example, a trip where everything went according to plan makes for a less interesting story than one where something unexpected happened that you then had to respond to. Choose an experience that might surprise the reader or teach them something.

Narrative essays in college applications

When applying for college , you might be asked to write a narrative essay that expresses something about your personal qualities.

For example, this application prompt from Common App requires you to respond with a narrative essay.

In this context, choose a story that is not only interesting but also expresses the qualities the prompt is looking for—here, resilience and the ability to learn from failure—and frame the story in a way that emphasizes these qualities.

An example of a short narrative essay, responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how the structure works.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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If you’re not given much guidance on what your narrative essay should be about, consider the context and scope of the assignment. What kind of story is relevant, interesting, and possible to tell within the word count?

The best kind of story for a narrative essay is one you can use to reflect on a particular theme or lesson, or that takes a surprising turn somewhere along the way.

Don’t worry too much if your topic seems unoriginal. The point of a narrative essay is how you tell the story and the point you make with it, not the subject of the story itself.

Narrative essays are usually assigned as writing exercises at high school or in university composition classes. They may also form part of a university application.

When you are prompted to tell a story about your own life or experiences, a narrative essay is usually the right response.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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How to Write Dialogue: Rules, Examples, and 8 Tips for Engaging Dialogue

by Fija Callaghan

Fija Callaghan is an author, poet, and writing workshop leader. She has been recognized by a number of awards, including being shortlisting for the H. G. Wells Short Story Prize. She is the author of the short story collection Frail Little Embers , and her writing can be read in places like Seaside Gothic , Gingerbread House , and Howl: New Irish Writing . She is also a developmental editor with Fictive Pursuits. You can read more about her at fijacallaghan.com .

You’ll often hear fiction writers talking about “character-driven stories”—stories where the strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations of the central cast of characters stay with us long after the book is closed. But what drives character, and how do we create characters that leave long-lasting impressions?

The answer lies in dialogue : the device used by our characters to communicate with each other. Powerful dialogue can elevate a story and subtly reveal important information, but poorly written dialogue can send your work straight to the slush bin. Let’s look at what dialogue is in writing, how to properly format dialogue, and how to make your characters’ dialogue the best it can be.

What is dialogue in a story?

Dialogue is the verbal exchange between two or more characters. In most fiction, the exchange is in the form of a spoken conversation. However, conversations in a story can also be things like letters, text messages, telepathy, or even sign language. Any moment where two characters speak or connect with each other through their choice of words, they’re engaging in dialogue.

Why does dialogue matter in a story?

We use dialogue in a story to reveal new information about the plot, characters, and story world. Great dialogue is essential to character development and helps move the plot forward in a story.

Writing good dialogue is a great way to sneak exposition into your story without stating it overtly to the reader; you can also use tools like dialect and diction in your dialogue to communicate more detail about your characters.

Through a character’s dialogue, we can learn about their motivations, relationships, and understanding of the world around them.

A character won’t always say what they mean (more on dialogue subtext below), but everything they say will serve some larger purpose in the story. If your dialogue is well-written, the reader will absorb this information without even realizing it. If your dialogue is clunky, however, it will stand out and pull your reader away from your story.

Rules for writing dialogue

Before we get into how to make your dialogue realistic and engaging, let’s make sure you’ve got the basics down: how to properly format dialogue in a story. We’ll look at how to punctuate dialogue, how to write dialogue correctly when using a question mark or exclamation point, and some helpful dialogue writing examples.

Here are the need-to-know rules for formatting dialogue in writing.

Enclose lines of dialogue in double quotation marks

This is the most essential rule in basic dialogue punctuation. When you write dialogue in North American English, a spoken line will have a set of double quotation marks around it. Here’s a simple dialogue example:

“Were you at the party last night?”

Any punctuation such as periods, question marks, and exclamation marks will also go inside the quotation marks. The quotation marks give a visual clue to the reader that this line is spoken out loud.

In European or British English, however, you’ll often see single quotation marks being used instead of double quotation marks. All the other rules stay the same.

Enclose nested dialogue in single quotation marks

Nested dialogue is when one line of dialogue happens inside another line of dialogue—when someone is verbally quoting someone else. In North American English, you’d use single quotation marks to identify where the new dialogue line starts and stops, like this:

“And then, do you know what he said to me? Right to my face, he said, ‘I stayed home all night.’ As if I didn’t even see him.”

The double and single quotation marks give the reader clues as to who’s speaking. In European or British English, the quotation marks would be reversed; you’d use single quotation marks on the outside, and double quotation marks on the inside.

Every speaker gets a new paragraph

Every time you switch to a new speaker, you end the line where it is and start a new line. Here are some dialogue examples to show you how it looks:

“Were you at the party last night?” “No, I stayed home all night.”

The same is true if the new “speaker” is only in focus because of their action. You can think of the paragraphs like camera angles, each one focusing on a different person:

“Were you at the party last night?” “No, I stayed home all night.” She raised a single, threatening eyebrow. “Yeah, I wasn’t feeling that well, so I just stayed in and watched Netflix instead.”

If you kept the action on the same line as the dialogue, it would get confusing and make it look like she was the one saying it. Giving each character a new paragraph keeps the speakers clear and distinct.

Use em-dashes when dialogue gets cut short

If your character begins to speak but is interrupted, you’ll break off their line of dialogue with an em-dash, like this:

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling that well, so I just stayed in and—” “Is that really what happened?”

Be careful with this one, because many word processors will treat your em-dash like the beginning of a new sentence and attach your closing quotation marks backwards:

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling that well, so I just stayed in and—“

You may need to keep an eye out and adjust as you go along.

In this dialogue example, the new speaker doesn’t lead with an em-dash; they just start speaking like normal. The only time you’ll ever open a line of dialogue with an em-dash is if the speaker who’s been cut off continues with what they were saying:

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling that well, so I just stayed in and—” “Is that really what happened?” “—watched Netflix instead. Yes, that’s what happened.”

This shows the reader that there’s actually only one line of dialogue, but it’s been cut in the middle by another speaker.

Each line of dialogue is indented

Every time you give your speaker a new paragraph, it’s indented from the left-hand side. Many word processors will do this automatically. The only exception is if your dialogue is opening your story or a new section of your story, such as a chapter; these will always start at the far left margin of the page, whether they’re dialogue or narration.

Long speeches don’t use use closing quotation marks until the end

Most writers favor shorter lines of dialogue in their writing, but sometimes you might need to give your character a longer one—for instance, if the character speaking is giving a speech or telling a story. In these cases, you might choose to break up their speech into shorter paragraphs the way you would if you were writing regular narrative.

However, here the punctuation gets a bit weird. You’ll begin the character’s dialogue with a double quotation mark, like normal. But you won’t use a double quotation mark at the end of the paragraph, because they haven’t finished speaking yet. But! You’ll use another opening quotation mark at the beginning of the subsequent paragraph. This means that you may use several opening double quotation marks for your character’s speech, but only ever one closing quotation mark.

If your character is telling a story that involves people talking, remember to use single quotation marks for your dialogue-within-dialogue as we looked at above.

Sometimes these dialogue formatting rules are easier to catch later on, during the editing process. When you’re writing, worry less about using the exact dialogue punctuation and more about writing great dialogue that supports your character development and moves the story forward.

How to use dialogue tags

Dialogue tags help identify the speaker. They’re especially important if you have a group of people all talking together, and it can get pretty confusing for the reader trying to keep everybody straight. If you’re using a speech tag after your line of dialogue—he said, she said, and so forth—you’ll end your sentence with a comma, like this:

“No, I stayed home all night,” he said.

But if you’re using an action to identify the person speaking instead, you’ll punctuate the sentence like normal and start a new sentence to describe the action taking place:

“No, I stayed home all night.” He looked down at his feet.

The dialogue tags and action tags always follow in the same paragraph. When you move your story lens to a new person, you’ll switch to a new paragraph. Each line where a new person speaks propels the story forward.

When to use capitals in dialogue tags

You may have noticed in the two examples above that one dialogue tag begins with a lowercase letter, and one—which is technically called an action tag—begins with a capital letter. Confusing? The rules are simple once you get a little practice.

When you use a dialogue tag like “he said,” “she said,” “he whispered,” or “she shouted,” you’re using these as modifiers to your sentence—dressing it up with a little clarity. They’re an extension of the sentence the person was speaking. That’s why you separate them with a comma and keep going.

With an action tag , you’re ending one sentence and beginning a whole new one. Each sentence represents two distinct moments in the story. That’s why you end the first sentence with a period, and then open the next one with a capital letter.

If you’re not sure, try reading them out loud:

“No, I stayed home all night,” he said. “No, I stayed home all night.” He looked down at his feet.

Since you can’t hear quotation marks out loud, the way you say them will show you if they’re one sentence or two. In the first example, you can hear how the sentence keeps going after the dialogue ends. In the second example, you can hear how one sentence comes to a full stop and another one begins.

But what if your dialogue tag comes before the dialogue, instead of after? In this case, the dialogue is always capitalized because the speaker is beginning a new sentence:

He said, “No, I stayed home all night.” He looked down at his feet. “No, I stayed home all night.”

You’ll still use a comma after the dialogue tag and a period after the action tag, just like if you’d separate them if you were putting your tag at the end.

If you’re not sure, ask yourself if your leading tag sounds like a full sentence or a partial sentence. If it sounds like a partial sentence, it gets a comma. If it reads like a full sentence that stands on its own, it gets a period.

External vs. internal dialogue

All of the dialogue we’ve looked at so far is external dialogue, which is directed from one character to another. The other type of dialogue is internal dialogue, or inner dialogue, where a character is talking to themselves. You’ll use this when you want to show what a character is thinking, but other characters can’t hear.

Usually, internal dialogue will be written in italics to distinguish it from the rest of the text. That shows the reader that the line is happening inside the character’s head. For example:

It’s not a big deal, she thought. It’s just a new school. It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.

Here you can see that the dialogue tag is used in the same way, just as if it was a line of external dialogue. However, “she thought” is written in regular text because it’s not a part of what the character is thinking. This helps keep everything clear for the reader.

In your story, you can play with using contrasting internal and external dialogue to show that what your characters say isn’t always what they mean. You may also choose to use this internal dialogue formatting if you’re writing dialogue between two or more characters that isn’t spoken out loud—for instance, telepathically or by sign language.

8 tips for creating engaging dialogue in a story

Now that you’ve mastered the mechanics of how to write dialogue, let’s look at how to create convincing, compelling dialogue that will elevate your story.

1. Listen to people talk

To write convincingly about people, you’ll first need to know something about them. The work of great writers is often characterized by their insight into humanity; you read them and think, “Yes, this is exactly what people are like.” You can begin accumulating your own insight by listening to what real people say to each other.

You can go to any public place where people are likely to gather and converse: cafés, art galleries, political events, dimly lit pubs, bookshops. Record snippets of conversation, pay attention to how people’s voices change as they move from speaking to one person to another, try to imagine what it is they’re not saying, the words simmering just under the surface.

By listening to stories unfold in real time, you’ll have a better idea of how to recreate them in your writing—and inspiration for some new stories, too.

2. Give each spoken line a purpose

Here is something that actors have drilled into their heads from their first day at drama school, and writers would do well to remember it too: every single line of dialogue has a hidden motivation. Every time your character speaks, they’re trying to achieve something, either overtly or covertly.

Small talk is rare in fiction, because it doesn’t advance the plot or reveal something about your characters. The exception is when your characters are using their small talk for a specific purpose, such as to put off talking about the real issue, to disarm someone, or to pretend they belong somewhere they don’t.

When writing your own dialogue, ask yourself what the line accomplishes in the story. If you come up blank, it probably doesn’t need to be there. Words need to earn their place on the page.

3. Embrace subtext

In real life, we rarely say exactly what we really mean. The reality of polite society is that we’ve evolved to speak in circles around our true intentions, afraid of the consequences of speaking our mind. Your characters will be no different. If your protagonist is trying to tell their best friend they’re in love with them, for instance, they’ll come up with about fifty different ways to say it before speaking the deceptively simple words themselves.

To write better dialogue, try exploring different ways of moving your characters around what’s really being said, layering text and subtext side by side. The reader will love picking apart the conversation between your characters and deducing what’s really happening underneath (incidentally, this is also the place where fan fiction is born).

4. Keep names to a minimum

You may notice that on television, in moments of great upheaval, the characters will communicate exactly how important the moment is by saying each other’s names in dramatic bursts of anger/passion/fear/heartbreak/shock. In real life, we say each other’s names very rarely; saying someone’s name out loud can actually be a surprisingly intimate experience.

Names may be a necessary evil right at the beginning of your story so your reader knows who’s who, but after you’ve established your cast, try to include names in dialogue only when it makes sense to do so. If you’re not sure, try reading the dialogue out loud to see if it sounds like something someone would actually say (we’ll talk more about reading out loud below).

5. Prune unnecessary words

This is one area where reality and story differ. In life, dialogue is full of filler words: “Um, uh, well, so yeah, then I was like, erm, huh?” You may have noticed this when you practiced listening to dialogue, above. We won’t say there’s never a place for these words in fiction, but like all words in storytelling, they need to earn their place. You might find filler words an effective tool for showing something about one particular character, or about one particular moment, but you’ll generally find that you use them a lot less than people really do in everyday speech.

When you’re reviewing your characters’ dialogue, remember the hint above: each line needs a purpose. It’s the same for each word. Keep only the ones that contribute something to the story.

6. Vary word choices and rhythms

The greatest dialogue examples in writing use distinctive character voices; each character sounds a little bit different, because they have their own personality.

This can be tricky to master, but an easy way to get started is to look at the word choice and rhythm for each character. You might have one character use longer words and run-on sentences, while another uses smaller words and simple, single-clause sentences. You might have one lean on colloquial regional dialect, where another sounds more cosmopolitan. Play around with different ways to develop characters and give each one their own voice.

7. Be consistent for each character

When you do find a solid, believable voice for your character, make sure that it stays consistent throughout your entire story. It’s easy to set a story aside for a while, then return to it and forget some of the work you did in distinguishing your characters’ dialogue. You might find it helpful to write down some notes about the way each character speaks so you can refer back to it later.

The exception, of course, is if your character’s speech pattern goes through a transformation over the course of the story, like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady . In this case, you can use your character’s distinctive voice to communicate a major change. But as with all things in writing, make sure that it comes from intention and not from forgetfulness.

8. Read your dialogue out loud

After you’ve written a scene between two or more characters, you can take the dialogue for a trial run by speaking it out loud. Ask yourself, does the dialogue sound realistic? Are there any moments where it drags or feels forced? Does the voice feel natural for each character? You’ll often find there are snags you miss in your writing that only become apparent when read out loud. Bonus: this is great practice for when you become rich and famous and do live readings at bookshops.

3 mistakes to avoid when writing dialogue

Easy, right? But there are also a few pitfalls that new writers often encounter when writing dialogue that can drag down an otherwise compelling story. Here are the things to watch out for when crafting your story dialogue.

1. Too much exposition

Exposition is one of the more demanding literary devices , and one of the ones most likely to trip up new writers. Dialogue is a good place to sneak in some information about your story—but subtlety is essential. This is one place where the adage “show, don’t tell” really shines.

Consider these dialogue examples:

“How is she, Doctor?” “Well Mr. Stuffington, I don’t have to remind you that your daughter, the sole heiress to your estate and currently engaged to the Baron of Flippingshire, has suffered a grievous injury when she fell from her horse last Sunday. We don’t need to discuss right now whether or not you think her jealous maid was responsible; what matters is your daughter’s well being. As to your question, I’m afraid it’s very unlikely that she’ll ever walk again.” Can’t you just feel your arm aching to throw the poor book across the room? There’s a lot of important information here, but you can find subtler ways to work it into your story. Let’s try again: “How is she, Doctor?” “Well Mr. Stuffington, your daughter took quite a blow from that horse—worse than we initially thought. I’m afraid it’s very unlikely that she’ll ever walk again.” “And what am I supposed to say to Flippingshire?” “The Baron? I suppose you’ll have to tell him that his future wife has lost the use of her legs.”

And so forth. To create good dialogue exposition, look for little ways to work in the details of your story, instead of piling it up in one great clump.

2. Too much small talk

We looked at how each line of dialogue needs a specific purpose above. Very often small talk in a story happens because the writer doesn’t know what the scene is about. Small talk doesn’t move the scene along unless it’s there for a reason. If you’re not sure, ask yourself what each character wants in this moment.

For example, imagine you’re in an office, and two characters are talking by the water cooler. How was your weekend, what did you think of the game, how’s your wife doing, are those new shoes, etc etc. Can’t you just feel the reader’s will to live slipping away?

But what about this: your characters are talking by the water cooler—Character A and Character B. Character A knows that his friend is inside Character B’s office looking for evidence of corporate espionage, so A is doing everything he can to stop B from going in. How was your weekend, what did you think of the game, how’s your wife doing, are those new shoes, literally anything just to keep him talking. Suddenly these benign little phrases have a purpose.

If you find your characters slipping into small talk, double check that it’s there for a purpose, and not just a crutch to keep you from moving forward in your scene. When writing dialogue, Make each line of dialogue earn its place.

3. Too much repetition

Variation is the spice of a good story. To keep your readers engaged, avoid using the same sentence structure and the same dialogue tags over and over again. Using “he said” and “she said” is effective and clear cut, but only for about three beats. After that, try switching to an action tag instead or letting the line of dialogue stand on its own.

You can also experiment with varying the length of your sentences or groupings of sentences. By changing up the rhythm of your story regularly, you’ll keep it feeling fresh and present for the reader.

Effective dialogue examples from literature

With all of these tips and tricks in mind, let’s look at how other writers have used good dialogue to elevate their stories.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine , by Gail Honeyman

“I’m going to pick up a carryout and head round to my mate Andy’s. A few of us usually hang out there on Saturday nights, fire up the playstation, have a smoke and a few beers.” “Sounds utterly delightful,” I said. “What about you?” he asked. I was going home, of course, to watch a television program or read a book. What else would I be doing? “I shall return to my flat,” I said. “I think there might be a documentary about komodo dragons on BBC4 later this evening.”

In this dialogue example, the author gives her characters two very distinctive voices. From just a few words we can begin to see these people very clearly in our minds—and with this distinction comes the tension that drives the story. Dialogue is an excellent place to show your character dynamics using speech patterns and word choices.

Pride and Prejudice , by Jane Austen

“My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?” Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. “But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.” Mr. Bennet made no answer. “Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently. “You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.” This was invitation enough. “Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”

In this famous dialogue example, the author illustrates the relationship between these two characters clearly and succinctly. Their dialogue shows Mr. B’s stalwart, tolerant love for his wife and Mrs. B’s excitement and propensity for gossip. The author shows us everything we need to know about these people in just a few lines.

Dinner in Donnybrook , by Maeve Binchy

“Look, I thought you ought to know, we’ve had a very odd letter from Carmel.” “A what… from Carmel?” “A letter. Yes, I know it’s sort of out of character, I thought maybe something might be wrong and you’d need to know…” “Yes, well, what did she say, what’s the matter with her?” “Nothing, that’s the problem, she’s inviting us to dinner.” “To dinner?” “Yes, it’s sort of funny, isn’t it? As if she wasn’t well or something. I thought you should know in case she got in touch with you.” “Did you really drag me all the way down here, third years are at the top of the house you know, I thought the house had burned down! God, wait till I come home to you. I’ll murder you.” “The dinner’s in a month’s time, and she says she’s invited Ruth O’Donnell.” “Oh, Jesus Christ.”

This dialogue example is a telephone conversation between two people. The lack of dialogue tags or action tags allows the words to come to the forefront and immerses us in their back-and-forth conversation. Even though there are no tags to indicate the speakers, the language is simple and straightforward enough that the reader always knows who’s talking. Through this conversation the author slowly builds the tension from the benign to the catastrophic within a domestic setting.

Compelling dialogue is the key to a good story

A writer has a lot riding on their characters’ dialogue, and learning how to write dialogue is a critical skill for any writer. When done well, it can leaves a lasting impact on the reader. But when dialogue is clumsy and awkward, it can drag your story down and make your reader feel like they’re wasting their time.

But if you keep these tips in mind, listen to dialogue in your everyday life, and practice , you’ll be sure to create realistic dialogue that brings your story to life.

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When it comes to writing dialogue in a story, even the best of the best writers take a pause. How to write dialogue correctly? Let’s take a look at some rules of writing dialogue to find out how you should write conversations in a story. If you need some examples of dialogue writing to ease the process, we’ve got that covered too!

But before we learn how to correctly write dialogue, we need to know the purpose of dialogue. Why is dialogue important? What does it achieve in a story?

Ensure crisp and engaging dialogues with perfect editing! Learn more

Importance of dialogue in a book

A conversation between two characters brings them to life. It provides insight into their psyche and informs the reader what they feel in that moment. It is through dialogue that different types of characters reveal themselves, other characters, and events in the story.

Of course, the chief purpose of dialogue is to develop the story. For a novel to progress, the characters need to communicate with each other. This applies not only to short stories , but also to nonfiction books!

Here is the different ways in which dialogue is useful:

• Helps develop characters and deepen their relationships with each other
• Provides space to play around with the main ideas in your novel
• Adds dramatic moments to your story, without which it is boring
• Matches the rhythms of human speech, making your characters more real
• Reveals the characters’ desires, fears, and motivations
• Lends a tone to the story and the characters
• Depicts, deepens, or reflects upon the theme of your story
• Changes the direction of plot
• Holds the reader’s attention

Knowing how dialogue is important to your book will help you better appreciate how it should be written. Now, there are a few rules of writing dialogue you must learn. Before you understand how to write character dialogue, you need to understand the rules that you need to follow.

Rules of writing dialogue

Writing dialogue in a story or a novel has a few basic rules. If you follow them well, you’ll have nothing to fear from writing dialogues. We’ve added some handy examples of dialogue writing so you can understand these rules better.

Here are the rules of writing dialogue that you should always keep in mind:

1. Use double quotation marks for your dialogue

It is the oldest rule of dialogue writing to enclose the spoken words in double quotation marks. Here’s a sample dialogue:

“Mr. Bennet, you have no compassion for my poor nerves!”

However, there is an exception to this rule. In British English, single quotation marks are used instead of double to show dialogue.

2. Use single quotation marks for quotes within a dialogue

In American English, single quotation marks are used to show a quote within a quote. So if your character is quoting someone else, that phrase should be enclosed within single quotation marks. For example:

“I heard Percy say, ‘the new teacher is absolutely brilliant!’”

3. Every new speaker gets a new paragraph

Every dialogue begins with a new paragraph. Each time a character says something, even if it is only a word, the dialogue should begin on a new paragraph. Here’s a dialogue writing example:

“Don’t worry, the information they have of our whereabouts is misleading.”

“So this was a trap?”

“Precisely.”

4. When (and how) to use dialogue tags

Dialogue tags are a means for you to connect the narration with the dialogue. The “he said” and “she said” you often come across? They’re the most widely used dialogue tags.

Take a look at this:

“Did you think it was over,” screeched Dr. Octavia. “My plan has just begun!”

In the above example of dialogue writing, the dialogue combines the narration and the speech to create the villain in our minds. However, it also provides an interruption in the character’s words. So, a dialogue tag is useful to add a pause in the dialogues.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered, “everything will be alright.”

If the dialogue tag ends the sentence, then use a period after it. But as in the example above, the tag can also occur in the middle of a dialogue to indicate a pause in speech. In that case, you can use commas to separate the speech from the narration.

5. When (and how) to use action tags

Action tags, also called action beats or dialogue beats, are short descriptions of action that break up the dialogue. You can use them to avoid repeating the usage of dialogue tags.

When it’s established that only a certain number of characters are speaking, it’s safe to use an action tag without confusing the reader. Let’s have a look at this example:

“Don’t tell me you lost it again!” She rolled her eyes, flopping down on the bean bag chair. “We’re so grounded.”

6. How to write longer dialogues

When a character delivers a long monologue, you have to create multiple paragraphs for a single dialogue. This can happen when a character narrates a story within your story, or during a flashback sequence.

In this case, end quotes are not used at the end of every paragraph. They only appear at the very end, when the character stops speaking.

“It was a long time ago,” said the old man. “The forests were yet untouched and man hadn’t succumbed to greed. I remember going to forage for produce with my mother. And then the machines came.

“By the time I was a grown man, they had already cut a long line through the forest.”

7. Use italics for internal speech

Your characters’ thoughts and internal monologue is represented through italics. This helps readers differentiate between what is said and what is thought. This is useful when you narrate your novel in the third person or through an omniscient narrator.

“I have no idea where to go,” said Martha. But I will keep you all safe.

Note that the end punctuation mark of the inner speech is also italicized. Think of it like this: instead of enclosing the sentence in quotes, we’re italicizing it.

Some writers choose to use double or single quotation marks to represent inner thoughts as well as dialogue. The key thing is to maintain consistency in your novel, no matter what style you choose to follow.

As is clear from the above examples of dialogue writing, there is much room for error while writing dialogue. Simple mistakes in dialogue punctuation can hamper the reading experience and take your reader out of the fictional world you have created. This is where an expert proofreader comes in.

Of course, any manuscript editing service will help ensure that you follow the important rules of writing dialogue. It’s their job to ensure consistency in your writing, even if you choose to deviate from the norm!

Now you understand the importance of dialogue and rules of writing dialogue. It’s time to understand how to write conversations in a story.

How to write dialogue in a story?

When it comes to writing dialogue in fiction , novelists and short story writers have a challenge at hand. They have to weave in dialogue while they construct scenes, setting, action, and context, also maintaining the flow and narrative of the story.

In his book The Anatomy of Story , John Truby says that dialogue is a “highly selective language that sounds like it could be real.” It is “always more intelligent, wittier, more metaphorical, and better argued than in real life.”

So, terrific dialogue isn’t just important when writing fiction— it’s essential. To impress the agent to win a book deal, and for your readers to keep coming back to your next book, you need to deliver superb dialogue in every scene.

 So, how to write dialogue that always hits the mark? Here are some tips to write dialogue:

1. Punctuate your dialogue properly

Writing dialogue punctuation is tricky, but extremely important. How you punctuate your dialogue determines the tone and meaning of your sentences. More than that, your use of punctuation also reflects upon the characters’ personality.

Take note of the following examples of dialogue writing:

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know!”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I really don’t know!”

“I— I really don’t know.”

“I don’t know… I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

All the variations create different images inside your head. This is because dialogue punctuation creates a speech pattern for your character, and all memorable characters have unique speech patterns.

After all, aren’t you immediately reminded of a certain Star Wars character when you read:

“Know that, I don’t.”

So, the key to writing successful dialogue is to format it properly. Dialogue formatting hinges on five essential punctuation marks. Let’s go through them one by one.

Don’t worry, you’ll find plenty of dialogue formatting examples in the infographic below!

1. Quotation marks

Your dialogue, including all punctuation in the utterance, goes inside double quotations. If you’re in the UK, just replace this with single quotes.

US: “Whatever is said here— the deal, the discussions, the results, everything stays between us.”

UK: ‘Whatever is said here— the deal, the discussions, the results, everything stays between us.’

The end punctuation of a dialogue always goes inside quotation marks.

“When do we leave ? ” Fatima asked.

“Who goes there ! ” s he challenged.

Note that the first word of the dialogue tag is in lowercase. This is because your sentence is a combination of the dialogue and the tag. Since the sentence isn’t complete when the dialogue ends, there is no reason to write the tag in uppercase.

Unless, of course, if the first word happens to be a proper noun!

2. Quotes within dialogue

When you’re quoting a complete sentence, the punctuation remains inside the quote. But when your quote is an incomplete sentence, a book title, or an explanation of something, the punctuation goes outside of the quote

“Samantha called me up and said, ‘I want to see you right now !’ ”

“Samantha called me up and insisted on meeting ‘right now ’. ”

Commas appear with the dialogue tags. So, they connect the narration with the dialogue. Here is the correct way to punctuate with dialogue tags:

Tom said , “I will perform the main act tomorrow, when the time is right.”

“I will perform the main act tomorrow , ” said Tom. “When the time is right.”

“I will perform the main act tomorrow , ” said Tom , “when the time is right.”

Em-dashes are instrumental in setting a rhythm for dialogue. They represent disjointed speech or sentences that are abruptly broken off.

“I didn’t— I didn’t do anything!” Kyle was bewildered. “You— you have to believe me— I’m innocent!”

“They haven’t said—”

“We don’t have the time for this right now!” Anika yelled.

“I wish I could help—”

The alarm sounded: it was time for Wuxian to leave.

Aside from this, em-dashes can also be used to show when characters speak over each other. Here’s a dialogue writing example for overlapping speech:

“Mr. Jackson couldn’t see us—”

“Are you being serious right now!”

“—but he’s headed over here within the next hour.”

Sometimes, action and dialogue overlap to an extent where neither action tags nor dialogue tags are sufficient. In this case, a couple of em-dashes help the writer sprinkle narration between the dialogue.

“Little does our little prince know” — the witch stirred her potion — “what I have in store for him!”

5. Ellipsis

When a character gets stunned into silence or trails off while speaking, ellipses are the way to show it. Consider this:

“When did they…”

“Last night, when half our troops were asleep.”

He looked out at the distant stars. “I thought I had more time…”

It’s easy to deduce from the above examples of dialogue formatting that punctuation can make a huge difference. Different ways of writing dialogue in a story create different meanings. If you want to be a master dialogue writer, mastering dialogue punctuation is an absolute essential!

Also read: How to Punctuate Dialogue in Fiction

2. Character-specific dialogue

Obviously, writing effective dialogue requires a good understanding of your characters. Develop a speech pattern for your character that reflects their personality. Then, take into account their worldview, their present mental and emotional state, their accent, or some sayings they love to use.

Remember two things when you write dialogue for your characters:

Characters aren’t mouthpieces for the writer

Your characters have a life of their own. The dialogue you write for them needs to reflect this. Beware of setting two heads talking in space: scene and setting influence dialogue as much as they influence plot and story.

Dialogue between characters can engage with the surrounding to build tension and add drama. Don’t settle for anything less than the most character-specific, setting-influenced conversations between your characters!

All your characters can’t sound the same

Some characters talk a lot, some talk a little. Some talk wisely, and some talk frivolously. Effective dialogue writing lets the readers know exactly who is speaking.

A stuttering child will obviously have a different style of talking from a hotheaded matriarch. Idioms, catchphrases, accent: it all goes into the making of great dialogue.

3. Balance dialogue with narration

Dialogue from stories and novels is always more intelligent, metaphorical, and sassy than it is in real life. The simple reason for this is that dialogue is not real talk. It is a highly vetted language that is cleverly constructed to depict action, movement, and conflict.

Consider this:

“Hey, Eric,” Wendy said.

“Oh, hi! What’s up?”

“Do you know where Kenny is? He hasn’t been home in two days”

“I’ve been busy lately, don’t have a clue”

Your texts with random colleagues are more interesting than this, right? The dialogue in this example sounds realistic, but it’s also boring because it has no weight.

It does not contain any tensions and adds nothing to the plot. It tells you nothing about the characters, aside from the surface information.

A dialogue writing sample

Dialogue and internal monologue are necessary to the story but can quickly turn boring. So, your dialogue needs to be rich in conflict. More than this, it needs to be balanced with conflict in action and narration!

Make sure that your dialogue has an impact. It should change the direction of the plot, the movement of the story, and the behavior of your characters. If characters talk and nothing happens, your readers will lose interest.

This is how you can achieve a balance between narration and dialogue to depict a better picture:

“Hey, Eric,” Wendy said, trying to play it cool.

“Oh, hi!” Eric said brightly, rubbing the back of his neck. “What’s up?”

“Do you know where Kenny is?” She observed his expression. “He hasn’t been home in two days.”

Eric won’t give away anything so casually, she thought. I must corner him after the meeting.

“I’ve been busy lately,” he smirked, shrugging. “No clue.”

See how some well-placed narration makes the same lines more engrossing? A drab conversation takes on more meaning if you use the right dialogue tags and action beats.

4. Avoid exposition

Exposition is the writer’s way of giving context to their readers. It tells the readers more about the setting, the backstory, and the recent or distant events before the story begins.

It’s important for the readers to know where the characters come from and where they are going. But this doesn’t have to be told through a dialogue between two characters. Too much exposition in dialogue makes your characters talking heads, rather than the real people they’re supposed to be.

Relying heavily on your dialogue is as harmful as not using it enough.

Ideally, a large part of the exposition should be set in the story’s narrative. Other developments like suspense, revelations, or secrets can unravel through dialogue. This adds dramatic effect to your narrative.

5. Revising your dialogue is important

No one can write good dialogue in one go. If it’s impactful, it tends to be unrealistic. If it’s believable, it becomes lackluster. This is why revising your dialogue is so important. Aside from the content, even changes in dialogue formatting and punctuation can make it more substantial.

It’s natural to come up with a clunky length of conversations in your first go at writing dialogue. But a round of revision helps you refine it by leaps and bounds.

Go through individual dialogue segments and inspect them carefully. Ask if the dialogue is logical for the character’s disposition. Is it true to the story’s time and character’s maturity? Does it fit the character’s credible thinking?

Create a list of such questions to suit your individual process. Include things that you often forget to consider. Add considerations like personality, slang, rhythm, mood, and emotion to your list.

If you lack the critical eye to examine and correct your writing, seek expert help. As always, your novel editors and proofreaders are here to help ! 

6. Study and practice 

Finally, the most important advice from anyone who has mastered any art: practice!

Observe how your favorite author writes dialogue in their books. Note down all remarkable examples of dialogue writing and study them for why they work. You can also make use of some dialogue writing exercises.

A dialogue writing exercise can be as simple as starting with a prompt and making it intriguing. Basic as it sounds, there’s nothing like some good old writing practice to get you going! So, here are some quick dialogue writing prompts that can help you practice:

• “I heard you’ve been missing something.”
• “Ah, how the mighty have fallen!”
• “I never said—”
• “Have you heard? Old man Lan is dead.”
• “Her mother knew. All this time.”
• “Did they help? You don’t look any better.”
• “It’s time to finish what we started.”
• “I never thought it could go this wrong.”
• “How did you…”
• “How old are you again? I keep forgetting!”

We hope these dialogue prompts get you excited to write. Of course, knowing what you need to do isn’t enough to make powerful dialogue. You also need to know what to avoid .

Avoid these dialogue writing mistakes

There are two reasons that dialogues become boring: either writers expect dialogue to do the heavy lifting, or they don’t rely on it at all. There is a fine balance for dialogue in a story: it needs to do enough, but never too much.

But how can you achieve this? Where does the limit lie? Now that we’ve told you how to write dialogue, we’ll also inform you about some common dialogue mistakes you need to avoid. It’s all about that balance, isn’t it!

Avoid these pitfalls in when you write dialogue in a story:

1. Boring dialogue tags

There is a wide variety of tags you can use, aside from “he said”, “she said”, and “they said”. The common mistake to make while writing dialogue in a story is using the same or similar tags too often. This gets repetitive and boring for the reader.

No one wants to read something like this:

“Barry,” said Melanie, “I didn’t know you were in town!”

“You hardly know yourself these days,” he said.

“Hey!” she said. “No fair!”

Let’s make some corrections:

“Barry,” beamed Melanie, “I didn’t know you were in town!”

“You hardly know yourself these days,” he mocked .

“Hey!” she protested. “No fair!”

You know what? I still feel like this is lacking, and we’ll soon see why.

2. Too many tags, not enough beats

Using an abundance of dialogue beats and no action tags make for poor dialogue. The reverse is also true; what you need is a proper mix of both.

Tags tell you how the words are being said, but beats tell you what action is happening alongside the words. For engaging dialogue, you need both! Here’s our previous dialogue writing example, edited, proofread, and improved:

“Barry!” Melanie hugged him, smiling brightly. “I didn’t know you were in town!”

“You hardly know yourself these days,” he mocked.

“Hey!” She punched him on the shoulder. “No fair!”

3. An abundance of the same style

We’ve seen multiple ways to write and punctuate dialogue. You can write it with a tag, a beat, or an interruption. Find ways to mix and match between these styles, so the repetition doesn’t become boring.

Here’s an example that mixes various styles of dialogue writing:

“Barry!” — Melanie hugged him, smiling brightly — “I didn’t know you were in town!”

4. Scene-blindness

A scene is a moment in your story: it includes action, conflict, and some immediate consequences. To maintain the flow of action, nothing should interrupt the scene.

Let dialogue build tension, and cut back on it when the tension is highest. Too much dialogue can dilute the scene and create no impact. Assess the needs of every scene, and write your dialogue accordingly.

Now that you know how to creatively use dialogue, you can create intriguing dialogues to hook the reader to your text. The next step after writing is editing. As experts in editing and proofreading services , we’d love to refine your text! 

Here are some other articles that you might find useful: 

• How to Write a Novel in Past Tense? 3 Steps & Examples
• How to Write Unforgettable Antagonists

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How to Write Dialogue in an Essay: Usage, Formatting, Punctuation Rules

Updated 30 Aug 2024

From narrative essays, personal reflections, psychology simulation reports, and English literature writing and scholarships, using dialogue in an essay can dramatically change a student’s chances of delivering a successful paper. However, there are specific rules that have to be considered. Many U.S. college students have failed such essays due to not learning how to write dialogue in an essay. Our writing guide provides clear definitions, cases of usage, formatting cases with examples, and MLA and APA dialogue rules that have to be known. Thankfully, once these rules are mastered, chances of getting low grades are really low! For best grades, consider turning to one of our creative essay writers at EduBirdie to receive plagiarism-free and unique papers.

Essay Dialogue Definition & Purpose

As most might remember from school, dialogue represents a special literary device that helps writers to portray a conversation with two or more individuals involved. Dialogue in an essay can be implemented when writing fiction or nonfiction narrative work. As an example, working with (or citing) movies, plays, books or reports, its usage may even become obligatory for greater effect. However, one should not mistake dialogue with academic research necessity to directly quote from journals, books or any other sources.

The most crucial rule isn’t to confuse direct quotes with dialogues, which is a major mistake that most college students make. The main difference lies not only in formatting rules but in purpose. The purpose of dialogue is to be a part of a particular story, adding a creative or emotionally-charged touch. Unlike direct quotes that have the purpose of supporting claims made by an author word by word, they differ by primary intention.  

When Dialogue is Used in an Essay and Why

Naturally, cases of dialogue usage differ from paper to paper, yet the majority of writing assignments that include dialogue have a creative nature. It’s so because narration always tells a story and adds literary devices to support settings, writing style, and imagery. Psychological element of perception is extremely important, therefore, each sentence has to be creative. Dialogue in an essay adds power to imagery by allowing the target audience to live through the effect of an actual presence and character of the people involved.

Various dialogue simulations in Business Management, Education, or Psychology university assignments can require creative thinking, yet when students have to work on argumentative or persuasive essays, it’s recommended to use direct quoting instead to make argumentation reliable. Since our claim has to be strong or even supported by a source, citing an existing source is correct in such cases.

Likewise, students working on expository essays explain the mechanics of certain facts by providing definite facts. The general rule for understanding whether dialogue fits in your paper is to think about the importance of direct claims. If no claim has to be made, creative use of conversation is allowed. It helps to relate stories, knowledge, and the feeling of belonging to an audience.

For example, when one has to present conversations with friends or work colleagues, writing an argumentative paper, it is recommended to use direct quotes, marking it as "Personal Interview" or "Personal Conversation", when citing. College professors expect students to have objectivity and a correct attitude that shows a scientific approach. Turning to a dialogue essay is acceptable in narration or when the writer has to be reflective. Writing dialogue in an essay can be challenging, especially for legal topics, which is why utilizing a law essay writing service can help ensure your dialogue is clear, precise, and correctly formatted.

Approach this task as a report on speech, where there’s no need to include all details. Recreating it from one's memory, the writer uses dialogue to add depth, emotional background, or mood to explain the provided story's content. Remember that conversation has to capture the reader's attention, explain settings, and be realistic enough.

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How to Format Dialogue in an Essay

The most challenging part is how to format dialogue in an essay, yet with basic rules explained, it will not seem too difficult!

Note: Our writing guide focuses on U.S. English rules of grammar, which means that it’s always better to check twice due to possible differences in your country.

• Apply double quotation marks when signifying that character uses speech

For example: When I failed college exams, my mother told me, "You should try harder, son."

• When using quotes in quotes, use single quotation marks

As shown below: "I recall watching Colbert Report episode that said 'Politics and religion do not mix' and feeling amazed," the course instructor said.

• If conversation extends across more than one paragraph, implement quotation marks right where each paragraph starts. However, closing double quotes can only be implemented when character’s speech reaches its end

See this example: James smiled and said, "It might be difficult at first. If we choose another approach for mediation, we won't be concerned about privacy. Still, third party presence might irritate people like John and Mike. Let's hope it works out."

Another important issue that should be considered by students learning how to put dialogue in an essay relates to correct punctuation. We will use correct and incorrect examples for clearer referencing.

- If your used speech quotation locates at sentence end, always implement full stop. It should be inside inverted commas, as in here:  

Wrong use: His mother exclaimed, "Do your college homework right now, please".

Correct use: An old man commented, "This essay is worth gold."

- Speaking of questions or use of exclamation signs, there’s a rule that states if it’s related to character’s words, they should be placed inside quotation.

Incorrect: Johnny shouted, "This is against the rules"!

Correct: Linda commented, "Sounds right to me!"

- If quote belongs to another greater sentence that represents question or contains an exclamation in it, punctuation marks go beyond speech being marked.

Wrong quotation example: What would you think when professor says, "Have you seen additional grading rubric?"

Proper way: What did you do when your father shouted, "Where is Andrew"?

- If intended speech tag appears before you implement a quote, it is necessary to make it separate, therefore, writers put comma before quotation mark.

Wrong: His sister said, "I'm going to John's graduation tonight."

Correct: Mr. Brown said, "Essay writing online is possible".

- Now if conversation element appears after quotation marks, correct way is to place comma inside replica’s mark. Like this:

"Just make sure my tea is hot", my brother warned me as I went outside.

- Finally, if there is interruption in a phrase, it is necessary to put comma after the first part of used phrase. As explanatory part finishes (who speaks), comma is used once again. See our example:

"Not exactly," Tom said in teary voice, "It's plain wrong to think so."

Read also: To be confident in the explanatory part, read our guide about  how to write an explanatory essay

Now that we know how to quote dialogue in an essay, let us proceed with APA and MLA formatting peculiarities!

Read also: How to Write Dates with Commas Correctly?

Dialogue Formatting in APA and MLA essay formats

MLA formatting:

• Place dialogue in new paragraph, even if speech is really small.
• Use commas to separate speech tags.

He said, "Oh, dear! I think we forgot to invite Jamie."

• If character's speech is more than one paragraph, start every paragraph with inverted commas.
• Remember that final quotation mark is placed at paragraph's end.

During his graduation, he said, "I did not think that Social Psychology is right for me, but then I started working part-time at our local shelter. It was a time changing experience! "Thanks to my college professors, my parents, everyone who has made it possible today."

How to quote a conversation in an essay APA format:

• In APA format , if character in speech uses not much text, the same paragraph contains dialogue tags and quotes.
• Commas are used for dialogue tags separation as well as quoting.

Laura said, "I'm feeling tired. Can you help me with my assignment?"

• If speech is more than 40 words, inverted commas should be at the beginning of every paragraph, as well as at conversation's end.

During our meeting, he said, "Nothing can be as damaging as working at college assignments few hours before deadline." "No proofreading is done when student is always hurrying up. I recommend online writing services if one absolutely needs professional help and has no time."

• If your dialogue involves more than two people, each person has his or her own paragraph in essay text.

"Ashley Construction Group. How can I help you?" She said. "Stella? I think John asked you to text him this morning. Could you?" He exclaimed.

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Mentor Texts

Writing Dialogue: ‘The Missing Piece Son’

Considering the role of dialogue in a narrative, with an example from The Times’s Lives column to help.

By Katherine Schulten

Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate.

This entry, like several others we are publishing, focuses on an essay from The Times’s long-running Lives column to consider skills prized in narrative writing. We are starting with this genre to help support students participating in our 2020 Personal Narrative Essay Contest .

Please note: For this contest, students are not required to include dialogue, but we suspect many will. We hope that demystifying it a bit here might encourage more students to try.

When should you include actual dialogue in a piece, and when should you simply report what was said? How can dialogue reveal character? How does it affect the pacing of a story? Does every narrative essay require dialogue?

Take a look at this mentor text, alongside a related text by the same author, to think about these questions and to experiment with dialogue in your own work.

Before Reading

Have you ever written dialogue before? Try it!

To prepare for the mentor text you are about to read, you might make it a conversation between two family members. You can work with a partner, each of you claiming one of the characters and all of his or her lines, or you can do it alone. You can write down a conversation you have actually had, or you can make one up.

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Last updated on Jul 24, 2023

15 Examples of Great Dialogue (And Why They Work So Well)

About the author.

Reedsy's editorial team is a diverse group of industry experts devoted to helping authors write and publish beautiful books.

About Martin Cavannagh

Head of Content at Reedsy, Martin has spent over eight years helping writers turn their ambitions into reality. As a voice in the indie publishing space, he has written for a number of outlets and spoken at conferences, including the 2024 Writers Summit at the London Book Fair.

Great dialogue is hard to pin down, but you know it when you hear or see it. In the earlier parts of this guide, we showed you some well-known tips and rules for writing dialogue. In this section, we'll show you those rules in action with 15 examples of great dialogue, breaking down exactly why they work so well.

1. Barbara Kingsolver, Unsheltered 

In the opening of Barbara Kingsolver’s Unsheltered, we meet Willa Knox, a middle-aged and newly unemployed writer who has just inherited a ramshackle house. 

     “The simplest thing would be to tear it down,” the man said. “The house is a shambles.”      She took this news as a blood-rush to the ears: a roar of peasant ancestors with rocks in their fists, facing the evictor. But this man was a contractor. Willa had called him here and she could send him away. She waited out her panic while he stood looking at her shambles, appearing to nurse some satisfaction from his diagnosis. She picked out words.      “It’s not a living thing. You can’t just pronounce it dead. Anything that goes wrong with a structure can be replaced with another structure. Am I right?”      “Correct. What I am saying is that the structure needing to be replaced is all of it. I’m sorry. Your foundation is nonexistent.”

Alfred Hitchcock once described drama as "life with the boring bits cut out." In this passage, Kingsolver cuts out the boring parts of Willa's conversation with her contractor and brings us right to the tensest, most interesting part of the conversation.

By entering their conversation late , the reader is spared every tedious detail of their interaction.

Instead of a blow-by-blow account of their negotiations (what she needs done, when he’s free, how she’ll be paying), we’re dropped right into the emotional heart of the discussion. The novel opens with the narrator learning that the home she cherishes can’t be salvaged. 

By starting off in the middle of (relatively obscure) dialogue, it takes a moment for the reader to orient themselves in the story and figure out who is speaking, and what they’re speaking about. This disorientation almost mirrors Willa’s own reaction to the bad news, as her expectations for a new life in her new home are swiftly undermined.

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How to Write Believable Dialogue

Master the art of dialogue in 10 five-minute lessons.

2. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice  

In the first piece of dialogue in Pride and Prejudice , we meet Mr and Mrs Bennet, as Mrs Bennet attempts to draw her husband into a conversation about neighborhood gossip.

     “My dear Mr. Bennet,” said his lady to him one day, “have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”      Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.      “But it is,” returned she; “for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.”      Mr. Bennet made no answer.      “Do you not want to know who has taken it?” cried his wife impatiently.      “You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”      This was invitation enough.      “Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.”

Austen’s dialogue is always witty, subtle, and packed with character. This extract from Pride and Prejudice is a great example of dialogue being used to develop character relationships . 

We instantly learn everything we need to know about the dynamic between Mr and Mrs Bennet’s from their first interaction: she’s chatty, and he’s the beleaguered listener who has learned to entertain her idle gossip, if only for his own sake (hence “you want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it”).

There is even a clear difference between the two characters visually on the page: Mr Bennet responds in short sentences, in simple indirect speech, or not at all, but this is “invitation enough” for Mrs Bennet to launch into a rambling and extended response, dominating the conversation in text just as she does audibly.

The fact that Austen manages to imbue her dialogue with so much character-building realism means we hardly notice the amount of crucial plot exposition she has packed in here. This heavily expository dialogue could be a drag to get through, but Austen’s colorful characterization means she slips it under the radar with ease, forwarding both our understanding of these people and the world they live in simultaneously.

3. Naomi Alderman, The Power

In The Power , young women around the world suddenly find themselves capable of generating and controlling electricity. In this passage, between two boys and a girl who just used those powers to light her cigarette.

     Kyle gestures with his chin and says, “Heard a bunch of guys killed a girl in Nebraska last week for doing that.”      “For smoking? Harsh.”      Hunter says, “Half the kids in school know you can do it.”      “So what?”      Hunter says, “Your dad could use you in his factory. Save money on electricity.”      “He’s not my dad.”      She makes the silver flicker at the ends of her fingers again. The boys watch.

Alderman here uses a show, don’t tell approach to expositional dialogue . Within this short exchange, we discover a lot about Allie, her personal circumstances, and the developing situation elsewhere. We learn that women are being punished harshly for their powers; that Allie is expected to be ashamed of those powers and keep them a secret, but doesn’t seem to care to do so; that her father is successful in industry; and that she has a difficult relationship with him. Using dialogue in this way prevents info-dumping backstory all at once, and instead helps us learn about the novel’s world in a natural way.

Show, Don't Tell

Master the golden rule of writing in 10 five-minute lessons.

4. Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

Here, friends Tommy and Kathy have a conversation after Tommy has had a meltdown. After being bullied by a group of boys, he has been stomping around in the mud, the precise reaction they were hoping to evoke from him.

     “Tommy,” I said, quite sternly. “There’s mud all over your shirt.”      “So what?” he mumbled. But even as he said this, he looked down and noticed the brown specks, and only just stopped himself crying out in alarm. Then I saw the surprise register on his face that I should know about his feelings for the polo shirt.      “It’s nothing to worry about.” I said, before the silence got humiliating for him. “It’ll come off. If you can’t get it off yourself, just take it to Miss Jody.”      He went on examining his shirt, then said grumpily, “It’s nothing to do with you anyway.”

This episode from Never Let Me Go highlights the power of interspersing action beats within dialogue . These action beats work in several ways to add depth to what would otherwise be a very simple and fairly nondescript exchange.  Firstly, they draw attention to the polo shirt, and highlight its potential significance in the plot. Secondly, they help to further define Kathy’s relationship with Tommy. 

We learn through Tommy’s surprised reaction that he didn’t think Kathy knew how much he loved his seemingly generic polo shirt. This moment of recognition allows us to see that she cares for him and understands him more deeply than even he realized. Kathy breaking the silence before it can “humiliate” Tommy further emphasizes her consideration for him. While the dialogue alone might make us think Kathy is downplaying his concerns with pragmatic advice, it is the action beats that tell the true story here.

5. J R R Tolkien, The Hobbit  

The eponymous hobbit Bilbo is engaged in a game of riddles with the strange creature Gollum.

     "What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.       "Not fair! not fair!" he hissed. "It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?"      Bilbo seeing what had happened and having nothing better to ask stuck to his question. "What have I got in my pocket?" he said louder. "S-s-s-s-s," hissed Gollum. "It must give us three guesseses, my precious, three guesseses."      "Very well! Guess away!" said Bilbo.      "Handses!" said Gollum.      "Wrong," said Bilbo, who had luckily just taken his hand out again. "Guess again!"      "S-s-s-s-s," said Gollum, more upset than ever. 

Tolkein’s dialogue for Gollum is a masterclass in creating distinct character voices . By using a repeated catchphrase (“my precious”) and unconventional spelling and grammar to reflect his unusual speech pattern, Tolkien creates an idiosyncratic, unique (and iconic) speech for Gollum. This vivid approach to formatting dialogue, which is almost a transliteration of Gollum's sounds, allows readers to imagine his speech pattern and practically hear it aloud.

We wouldn’t recommend using this extreme level of idiosyncrasy too often in your writing — it can get wearing for readers after a while, and Tolkien deploys it sparingly, as Gollum’s appearances are limited to a handful of scenes. However, you can use Tolkien’s approach as inspiration to create (slightly more subtle) quirks of speech for your own characters.

6. F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The narrator, Nick has just done his new neighbour Gatsby a favor by inviting his beloved Daisy over to tea. Perhaps in return, Gatsby then attempts to make a shady business proposition.

     “There’s another little thing,” he said uncertainly, and hesitated.      “Would you rather put it off for a few days?” I asked.      “Oh, it isn’t about that. At least —” He fumbled with a series of beginnings. “Why, I thought — why, look here, old sport, you don’t make much money, do you?”      “Not very much.”      This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.       “I thought you didn’t, if you’ll pardon my — you see, I carry on a little business on the side, a little side line, if you understand. And I thought that if you don’t make very much — You’re selling bonds, aren’t you, old sport?”      “Trying to.” 

This dialogue from The Great Gatsby is a great example of how to make dialogue sound natural. Gatsby tripping over his own words (even interrupting himself , as marked by the em-dashes) not only makes his nerves and awkwardness palpable but also mimics real speech. Just as real people often falter and make false starts when they’re speaking off the cuff, Gatsby too flounders, giving us insight into his self-doubt; his speech isn’t polished and perfect, and neither is he despite all his efforts to appear so.

Fitzgerald also creates a distinctive voice for Gatsby by littering his speech with the character's signature term of endearment, “old sport”. We don’t even really need dialogue markers to know who’s speaking here — a sign of very strong characterization through dialogue.

7. Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet  

In this first meeting between the two heroes of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, John is introduced to Sherlock while the latter is hard at work in the lab.

      “How are you?” he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit. “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”      “How on earth did you know that?” I asked in astonishment.      “Never mind,” said he, chuckling to himself. “The question now is about hemoglobin. No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of mine?”     “It is interesting, chemically, no doubt,” I answered, “but practically— ”      “Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years. Don’t you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains. Come over here now!” He seized me by the coat-sleeve in his eagerness, and drew me over to the table at which he had been working. “Let us have some fresh blood,” he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger, and drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette. “Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water. You perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water. The proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million. I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction.” As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant the contents assumed a dull mahogany colour, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of the glass jar.      “Ha! ha!” he cried, clapping his hands, and looking as delighted as a child with a new toy. “What do you think of that?”

This passage uses a number of the key techniques for writing naturalistic and exciting dialogue, including characters speaking over one another and the interspersal of action beats. 

Sherlock cutting off Watson to launch into a monologue about his blood experiment shows immediately where Sherlock’s interest lies — not in small talk, or the person he is speaking to, but in his own pursuits, just like earlier in the conversation when he refuses to explain anything to John and is instead self-absorbedly “chuckling to himself”. This helps establish their initial rapport (or lack thereof) very quickly.

Breaking up that monologue with snippets of him undertaking the forensic tests allows us to experience the full force of his enthusiasm over it without having to read an uninterrupted speech about the ins and outs of a science experiment.

Starting to think you might like to read some Sherlock? Check out our guide to the Sherlock Holmes canon !

8. Brandon Taylor, Real Life

Here, our protagonist Wallace is questioned by Ramon, a friend-of-a-friend, over the fact that he is considering leaving his PhD program.

     Wallace hums. “I mean, I wouldn’t say that I want to leave, but I’ve thought about it, sure.”     “Why would you do that? I mean, the prospects for… black people, you know?”        “What are the prospects for black people?” Wallace asks, though he knows he will be considered the aggressor for this question.

Brandon Taylor’s Real Life is drawn from the author’s own experiences as a queer Black man, attempting to navigate the unwelcoming world of academia, navigating the world of academia, and so it’s no surprise that his dialogue rings so true to life — it’s one of the reasons the novel is one of our picks for must-read books by Black authors . 

This episode is part of a pattern where Wallace is casually cornered and questioned by people who never question for a moment whether they have the right to ambush him or criticize his choices. The use of indirect dialogue at the end shows us this is a well-trodden path for Wallace: he has had this same conversation several times, and can pre-empt the exact outcome.

This scene is also a great example of the dramatic significance of people choosing not to speak. The exchange happens in front of a big group, but — despite their apparent discomfort —  nobody speaks up to defend Wallace, or to criticize Ramon’s patronizing microaggressions. Their silence is deafening, and we get a glimpse of Ramon’s isolation due to the complacency of others, all due to what is not said in this dialogue example.

9. Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants

In this short story, an unnamed man and a young woman discuss whether or not they should terminate a pregnancy while sitting on a train platform.

     “Well,” the man said, “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.”      “And you really want to?”      “I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you really don’t want to.”      “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?”      “I love you now. You know I love you.”      “I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?”      “I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry.”      “If I do it you won’t ever worry?”      “I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.”

This example of dialogue from Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants moves at quite a clip. The conversation quickly bounces back and forth between the speakers, and the call-and-response format of the woman asking and the man answering is effective because it establishes a clear dynamic between the two speakers: the woman is the one seeking reassurance and trying to understand the man’s feelings, while he is the one who is ultimately in control of the situation.

Note the sparing use of dialogue markers: this minimalist approach keeps the dialogue brisk, and we can still easily understand who is who due to the use of a new paragraph when the speaker changes .

Like this classic author’s style? Head over to our selection of the 11 best Ernest Hemingway books .

10. Madeline Miller, Circe

In Madeline Miller’s retelling of Greek myth, we witness a conversation between the mythical enchantress Circe and Telemachus (son of Odysseus).

     “You do not grieve for your father?”        “I do. I grieve that I never met the father everyone told me I had.”           I narrowed my eyes. “Explain.”      “I am no storyteller.”      “I am not asking for a story. You have come to my island. You owe me truth.”       A moment passed, and then he nodded. “You will have it.” 

This short and punchy exchange hits on a lot of the stylistic points we’ve covered so far. The conversation is a taut tennis match between the two speakers as they volley back and forth with short but impactful sentences, and unnecessary dialogue tags have been shaved off . It also highlights Circe’s imperious attitude, a result of her divine status. Her use of short, snappy declaratives and imperatives demonstrates that she’s used to getting her own way and feels no need to mince her words.

11. Andre Aciman, Call Me By Your Name

This is an early conversation between seventeen-year-old Elio and his family’s handsome new student lodger, Oliver.

     What did one do around here? Nothing. Wait for summer to end. What did one do in the winter, then?      I smiled at the answer I was about to give. He got the gist and said, “Don’t tell me: wait for summer to come, right?”      I liked having my mind read. He’d pick up on dinner drudgery sooner than those before him.      “Actually, in the winter the place gets very gray and dark. We come for Christmas. Otherwise it’s a ghost town.”      “And what else do you do here at Christmas besides roast chestnuts and drink eggnog?”      He was teasing. I offered the same smile as before. He understood, said nothing, we laughed.      He asked what I did. I played tennis. Swam. Went out at night. Jogged. Transcribed music. Read.      He said he jogged too. Early in the morning. Where did one jog around here? Along the promenade, mostly. I could show him if he wanted.      It hit me in the face just when I was starting to like him again: “Later, maybe.”

Dialogue is one of the most crucial aspects of writing romance — what’s a literary relationship without some flirty lines? Here, however, Aciman gives us a great example of efficient dialogue. By removing unnecessary dialogue and instead summarizing with narration, he’s able to confer the gist of the conversation without slowing down the pace unnecessarily. Instead, the emphasis is left on what’s unsaid, the developing romantic subtext. 

Furthermore, the fact that we receive this scene in half-reported snippets rather than as an uninterrupted transcript emphasizes the fact that this is Elio’s own recollection of the story, as the manipulation of the dialogue in this way serves to mimic the nostalgic haziness of memory.

Understanding Point of View

Learn to master different POVs and choose the best for your story.

12. George Eliot, Middlemarch

Two of Eliot’s characters, Mary and Rosamond, are out shopping,

     When she and Rosamond happened both to be reflected in the glass, she said laughingly —      “What a brown patch I am by the side of you, Rosy! You are the most unbecoming companion.”      “Oh no! No one thinks of your appearance, you are so sensible and useful, Mary. Beauty is of very little consequence in reality,” said Rosamond, turning her head towards Mary, but with eyes swerving towards the new view of her neck in the glass.      “You mean my beauty,” said Mary, rather sardonically.       Rosamond thought, “Poor Mary, she takes the kindest things ill.” Aloud she said, “What have you been doing lately?”      “I? Oh, minding the house — pouring out syrup — pretending to be amiable and contented — learning to have a bad opinion of everybody.”

This excerpt, a conversation between the level-headed Mary and vain Rosamond, is an example of dialogue that develops character relationships naturally. Action descriptors allow us to understand what is really happening in the conversation. 

Whilst the speech alone might lead us to believe Rosamond is honestly (if clumsily) engaging with her friend, the description of her simultaneously gazing at herself in a mirror gives us insight not only into her vanity, but also into the fact that she is not really engaged in her conversation with Mary at all.

The use of internal dialogue cut into the conversation (here formatted with quotation marks rather than the usual italics ) lets us know what Rosamond is actually thinking, and the contrast between this and what she says aloud is telling. The fact that we know she privately realizes she has offended Mary, but quickly continues the conversation rather than apologizing, is emphatic of her character. We get to know Rosamond very well within this short passage, which is a hallmark of effective character-driven dialogue.

13. John Steinbeck, The Winter of our Discontent

Here, Mary (speaking first) reacts to her husband Ethan’s attempts to discuss his previous experiences as a disciplined soldier, his struggles in subsequent life, and his feeling of impending change.

     “You’re trying to tell me something.”      “Sadly enough, I am. And it sounds in my ears like an apology. I hope it is not.”      “I’m going to set out lunch.”

Steinbeck’s Winter of our Discontent is an acute study of alienation and miscommunication, and this exchange exemplifies the ways in which characters can fail to communicate, even when they’re speaking. The pair speaking here are trapped in a dysfunctional marriage which leaves Ethan feeling isolated, and part of his loneliness comes from the accumulation of exchanges such as this one. Whenever he tries to communicate meaningfully with his wife, she shuts the conversation down with a complete non sequitur. 

We expect Mary’s “you’re trying to tell me something” to be followed by a revelation, but Ethan is not forthcoming in his response, and Mary then exits the conversation entirely. Nothing is communicated, and the jarring and frustrating effect of having our expectations subverted goes a long way in mirroring Ethan’s own frustration.

Just like Ethan and Mary, we receive no emotional pay-off, and this passage of characters talking past one another doesn’t further the plot as we hope it might, but instead gives us insight into the extent of these characters’ estrangement.

14. Bret Easton Ellis , Less Than Zero

The disillusioned main character of Bret Easton Ellis’ debut novel, Clay, here catches up with a college friend, Daniel, whom he hasn’t seen in a while. 

     He keeps rubbing his mouth and when I realize that he’s not going to answer me, I ask him what he’s been doing.      “Been doing?”      “Yeah.”      “Hanging out.”      “Hanging out where?”      “Where? Around.”

Less Than Zero is an elegy to conversation, and this dialogue is an example of the many vacuous exchanges the protagonist engages in, seemingly just to fill time. The whole book is deliberately unpoetic and flat, and depicts the lives of disaffected youths in 1980s LA. Their misguided attempts to fill the emptiness within them with drink and drugs are ultimately fruitless, and it shows in their conversations: in truth, they have nothing to say to one another at all.

This utterly meaningless exchange would elsewhere be considered dead weight to a story. Here, rather than being fat in need of trimming, the empty conversation is instead thematically resonant.

15. Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

The young narrator of du Maurier’s classic gothic novel here has a strained conversation with Robert, one of the young staff members at her new husband’s home, the unwelcoming Manderley.

     “Has Mr. de Winter been in?” I said.      “Yes, Madam,” said Robert; “he came in just after two, and had a quick lunch, and then went out again. He asked for you and Frith said he thought you must have gone down to see the ship.”      “Did he say when he would be back again?” I asked.      “No, Madam.”      “Perhaps he went to the beach another way,” I said; “I may have missed him.”      “Yes, Madam,” said Robert.      I looked at the cold meat and the salad. I felt empty but not hungry. I did not want cold meat now. “Will you be taking lunch?” said Robert.      “No,” I said, “No, you might bring me some tea, Robert, in the library. Nothing like cakes or scones. Just tea and bread and butter.”      “Yes, Madam.”

We’re including this one in our dialogue examples list to show you the power of everything Du Maurier doesn’t do: rather than cycling through a ton of fancy synonyms for “said”, she opts for spare dialogue and tags. 

This interaction's cold, sparse tone complements the lack of warmth the protagonist feels in the moment depicted here. By keeping the dialogue tags simple , the author ratchets up the tension —  without any distracting flourishes taking the reader out of the scene. The subtext of the conversation is able to simmer under the surface, and we aren’t beaten over the head with any stage direction extras.

The inclusion of three sentences of internal dialogue in the middle of the dialogue (“I looked at the cold meat and the salad. I felt empty but not hungry. I did not want cold meat now.”) is also a masterful touch. What could have been a single sentence is stretched into three, creating a massive pregnant pause before Robert continues speaking, without having to explicitly signpost one. Manipulating the pace of dialogue in this way and manufacturing meaningful silence is a great way of adding depth to a scene.

Phew! We've been through a lot of dialogue, from first meetings to idle chit-chat to confrontations, and we hope these dialogue examples have been helpful in illustrating some of the most common techniques.

If you’re looking for more pointers on creating believable and effective dialogue, be sure to check out our course on writing dialogue. Or, if you find you learn better through examples, you can look at our list of 100 books to read before you die — it’s packed full of expert storytellers who’ve honed the art of dialogue.

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Home » Blog » How to Write Dialogue that Engages Readers in 9 Steps

How to Write Dialogue that Engages Readers in 9 Steps

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Table of contents.

As a writer, you need to constantly improve your writing and draft. You need to work on characters, plot, and story to create your best work. This includes how to develop characters, what writing software to use, and importantly, how to write dialogue.

Dialogues are essential for writing and are the backbone of your story. No New York Times bestseller ever made the list with bad dialogue.

Lauren Grodstein says:

“I like writing dialogue – I can hear my characters so clearly that writing dialogue often feels as much like transcribing something as it does like creating it.”

If you want to hear your characters and if you want to have your readers hear them, you should know how to write dialogue in a book, script, or short story. Dialogues make your story interesting, they hook readers, they make your writing reader-friendly, and have several other benefits (discussed below).

So how to incorporate dialogue in your book? How to write dialogue in a narrative? What steps you should follow to write a great book with compelling dialogue?

All these and many other questions will be answered in this in-depth and actionable guide on how to write dialogue, good dialogue examples, their benefits, and more.

By the time you’ll finish reading this guide, you’ll become a better writer than you are now as the writing tips are useful and valuable.

What is Dialogue?

How to write dialogue in a book, spice up conversations with dialogue.

Dialogue is a conversion between two or more characters. The purpose of dialogue is to exchange information. It isn’t meant to convince someone. Dialogue in writing is two-way communication that’s cooperative and is meant for the exchange of information.

There are several reasons you should use dialogue in your book and how to write a conversation that will keep readers engaged and persuade them to keep reading.

The major benefits of using dialogue in your book are covered in the next section.

The Benefits of Writing Dialogue in Your Book

The leading benefits of writing dialogue in your book are:

• Grabs attention
• Character development
• Information
• Advance your story

1. Dialogue Grabs Attention

Using dialogue in your story helps you grab the reader’s attention. Interesting conversation is something that readers love. What you can achieve with a dialogue (even a short one), you can’t do the same without dialogue.

A story without dialogue will get boring. To hook readers, you have to add dialogue in your book. You need to master how to write a conversation in your book and that’s what makes all the difference.

Here is an example from The Secret History by Donna Tartt :

‘It was Julian and Henry. Neither of them had heard me come up the stairs. Henry was leaving; Julian was standing at the open door. His brow was furrowed and he looked very somber, as if he were saying something of the gravest importance […].

Julian finishes speaking. He looked away for a moment, then bit his lower lip and looked up at Henry.

Then Henry spoke. His words were low but deliberate and distinct. ‘Should I do what is necessary?’

To my surprise, Julian took both Henry’s hands in his own. ‘You should only, ever, do what is necessary,’ he said.’

The suspense Tartt developed with dialogue couldn’t be done without dialogue. It shows an agreement between Julian and Henry which, in the absence of dialogue, wouldn’t be possible to communicate effectively.

This is what makes dialogues so crucial for your story. If you’re ever stuck on finding a good piece of dialogue, try using a writing prompt generator . This will give you some random ideas that may just spark an entire scene or conversation.

2. Character Development

You can write pages upon pages to describe your character or you can use a simple dialogue to show readers everything about your character. Here is an example :

Reported speech: He asked her what she was doing. Dialogue 1: “What’cha doin’?” Dialogue 2: “What the bloody hell are you doing?” Dialogue 3: “W-w-w-what are y-y-you doing?” Dialogue 4: “If I may be so bold, may I ask what the young Miss is doing?” Dialogue 5: “By the bloody battleaxe of the war god Sarnis, what on earth are you up to now?”

You can describe your character in a single sentence with a dialogue. The way your characters speak, what language they use, what words they use, how often they speak, etc. helps you develop your characters and it helps your readers better understand the characters.

You don’t have to put a lot of hard work into explaining who, what, why, and how about your characters if you know how to write dialogue in a story.

3. Information

Dialogues let you share information with the readers. You can share information related to moods, personalities, history, and any other important or even unimportant information via dialogues. Readers get the information unconsciously while reading and they don’t feel burdened.

That’s the beauty of dialogues.

Most importantly, the back story can be best explained through dialogue. If you narrate a back story, it will get boring and readers might lose interest. On the other hand, if the same backstory is expressed in the form of a conversation between two characters, it gets a whole lot more interesting. It then becomes a story in the true sense.

Here is a perfect dialogue example by Tennessee Williams from A Streetcar Named Desire:

“Who do you think you are? A pair of queens? Now just remember what Huey Long said—that every man’s a king—and I’m the king around here, and don’t you forget it!” Again, Stanley wants to undermine Blanche to Stella when he reminds her of the good times the two had before Blanche arrived:

“Listen, baby, when we first met—you and me—you thought I was common. Well, how right you were! I was as common as dirt. You showed me a snapshot of the place with them columns, and I pulled you down off them columns, and you loved it, having them colored lights goin’! And weren’t we happy together? Wasn’t it all OK? Till she showed up here. Hoity-toity, describin’ me like an ape.”

Stanley is sharing information about his past and the writer uses dialogue to share the backstory and other relevant information that doesn’t sound like information. This is one powerful reason you should learn how to write dialogues.

4. Realistic

Dialogues make your story realistic. That’s how the world we live in works. We talk. We have conversations, big and small. Generally, we are always involved in some kind of conversation in our lives.

So if you wish to write a story that’s natural and depicts our real world, you need dialogues. It will make your story more organic and it will be easier for the readers to connect with your plot.

5. Advance Your Story

Perhaps the best feature of using dialogue in your writing is that it helps you move the story forward. When you narrate the story, it complicates it as compared to using dialogues that make your job easier.

Here is a dialogue example that moves the story forward by sharing important information with the readers:

The writer explained the situation and advanced the story in a few dialogues. The same could have taken two paragraphs or maybe more if it were to be done without dialogues.

Dialogues help you convey emotions and describe the complete scene without using too many words. This is the real beauty of using them and that’s why you need to know how to write dialogue in a book.

Follow these steps to write dialogue in your book:

• Have a purpose for the dialogue
• Differentiate characters
• Use conflict
• Be consistent
• Keep dialogues natural
• Keep dialogues short
• Improve flow
• Check formatting and punctuation
• Recheck and edit

Step #1: Dialogue Purpose

You should use dialogues for a purpose. They should have a reason.

Not all types of writing need to have dialogues. You can’t fit them anywhere based on your liking. That’s not how it works and that’s not how it will work.

The decision to use dialogue in your writing should be logical and must be purpose-driven. The first thing you should do is ask yourself the following questions:

Do I really need a dialogue here?

If so, what is its purpose?

Can I go without a dialogue?

Will it make any difference if I add a dialogue?

Generally, novels and fiction writing need dialogues. Non-fiction, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily need dialogues. But there isn’t any rule. You’re the best judge. It’s your book so you have to decide rationally what makes more sense – and why.

To make things simple for you, you should use dialogue in your book if it meets one of the conditions:

• Dialogue should provide information that otherwise would be tough to narrate
• Dialogue needs to improve the characterization
• Dialogue is moving the story forward

These are the three primary purposes of using dialogue in your book. It should meet at least one of the conditions above. If it does none of the above, you don’t necessarily need dialogue and you’d be fine without it.

For instance, George Eliot in her novel Middlemarch used the following dialogue between the two sisters and set them apart. The following dialogue shows the difference between the two characters:

Celia was trying not to smile with pleasure. “O Dodo, you must keep the cross yourself.”

“No, no, dear, no,” said Dorothea, putting up her hand with careless deprecation.”

“Yes, indeed you must; it would suit you – in your black dress, now,” said Celia, insistingly. “You might wear that.” “Not for the world, not for the world. A cross is the last thing I would wear as a trinket.” Dorothea shuddered slightly. “Then you will think it wicked in me to wear it,” said Celia, uneasily. “No, dear, no,” said Dorothea, stroking her sister’s cheek.

This character differentiation couldn’t be achieved without dialogue. And that’s how you should ensure that dialogues in your story have a specific purpose.

The easiest way to figure out if your dialogue has a purpose is by removing it. If the story still makes sense after removing a specific dialogue, it has no purpose and should be removed. If, however, the story doesn’t make sense anymore or the message gets distorted, you should retain it.

As a writer, you’re the judge and you should define the purpose and reason of the dialogue before you initiate a conversation.

Step #2: Differentiate Characters

One of the first things you need to understand while learning how to write dialogue is to set your characters apart using dialogue. You can write several pages explaining different characteristics of the characters which might not work well as opposed to a dialogue.

You can express several types of important information about your characters via dialogue such as:

• The character’s background and accent
• Character’s personality, mood, feelings, thoughts, and other traits by the tone and word selection
• How often a character speaks and information on whether he/she is introverted or extrovert

Dialogue helps you define your characters and differentiate them from one another. If you are writing a novel or a screenplay , I’m sure you know how important character development is and what role it plays in novel writing .

You should use dialogue to differentiate characters, set them apart, and for character development. You should also use dialogue to describe changes in motives, feelings, and intentions as the story moves forward. When these changes are conveyed via dialogue, it makes them more meaningful and notable as opposed to the writer narrating the changes a character is going through.

Here is an example from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White :

“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

“Out to the hog house,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”

“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight. 

“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”

“Do away with it?” shrieked Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?”

Mrs. Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table. “Don’t yell, Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”

The difference in their personalities is evident- no line of dialogue is out of character. This is a perfect way to use dialogue to differentiate characters and who they are.

Use Squibler’s AI tools to create new characters, settings, and objects. You can also develop your elements by adding descriptions and visuals. Then Squibler lets you seamlessly integrate the characters into your dialogues and narrative as you create chapters and scenes.

Step #3: Use Conflict

Imagine your characters are sitting on a couch spending time watching birds in the sky. You can narrate the scene and explain it in detail. You can add dialogue but if everything is moving smoothly and there isn’t anything new or conflicting, what’s the point of having a dialogue?

It won’t add value.

When dialogue doesn’t add value, it should be removed. This is the first rule.

And when there is a conflict or disagreement between two or more characters at any level and of any kind, there has to be a dialogue. This rule is really important.

When there isn’t any conflict and everything is pleasing and normal, and the dialogue doesn’t raise the eyebrows of the readers, they will start losing interest. The fact is: We all do chitchat and conversations in our daily lives that have no purpose. That’s fine.

But if you do the same in your novel will bore your readers. It doesn’t just work.

This is why you must learn how to write dialogue that uses conflict between two characters. It doesn’t have to be severe conflict rather it should be two opposing views. If you’re not using conflict and the dialogue doesn’t advance the story, you don’t need one.

That makes sense, right?

Things, however, get challenging when there isn’t any conflict and the conversation is pleasant and lively. You can’t skip it. That’s also a part of the novel because removing these types of pleasant conversations from your story will ruin it.

What do you do to narrate lively conversations?

You need to keep these conversations brief. Better yet, narrate them. This is something you have to learn. This is why reading is crucial if you want to become a better writer. Check dialogue examples from other writers and see how they write dialogue when characters are happy and when there is a conflict.

You’ll notice that pleasant conversations are kept to a minimum while conflicts are covered in detail because stories rely on conflicts and that’s how it moves forward. When everything is fine and there aren’t any conflicts, that’s the end of the story.

Here is an example from Fat City by Leonard Gardner:

“That’s a good one.” Tully placed the meat in the black encrusted frying pan, pushing in the edge of fat until the steak lay flat.

“I heard what you said.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“You think I’m lying to you.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

“All I’m trying to do,” said Tully, now opening a can of peas, “is make us our supper.”

It is a perfect example of how to use dialogue to create conflict in your characters and move the story forward.

Use Squibler if you lack at building more conflict and adding more depth. With advanced AI technology, you can select a certain section of your dialogue and command Squibler to add more conflict and intensity to it and see how your work unfolds before your eyes in a matter of seconds. 

Step #4: Be Consistent

One of the basic lessons of dialogue writing that you’ll learn in every book or screenwriting course on how to write dialogue and how to write a conversation is that dialogues need to be consistent. That is, it keeps characters consistent throughout the book unless you want to depict a change in a character’s behavior.

This means the words your character uses, his attitude, personality, taste, feelings, and language should be consistent. Make them as humane as possible. That’s the key to bringing a story to life.

After spending time with someone, you can anticipate their reaction to a situation and you can anticipate their behavior. This is what exactly readers do. They anticipate the reaction of your characters.

How do you get to know you’re being consistent in dialogue writing?

If readers can anticipate the reaction of your characters, you’re doing a great job. If dialogue surprises them, readers will lose interest. It will become confusing.

Sometimes, it’s essential to keep a character or two mysterious. And that’s fine. When you have such a character, readers expect a different response from him every time – and that’s what you should do.

The thing is: Readers expect characters to behave in a certain way. This expectation is developed by dialogue, narration, and the plot. You need to ensure that the dialogue is consistent and is as per readers’ expectations that you have developed in your book.

The tone, word choice, structure, language, voice, etc. need to be consistent with the character’s personality and with the situation they’re dealing with. If a character is talking to a stranger, he will use a different tone as compared to when he is talking to his wife. You can use the same tone.

Consistency isn’t just relevant to the character but it should be relevant to the situation, the character he is talking to, and the scenario.

Use Squibler to develop your writing piece and the AI technology lets you seamlessly maintain the consistency of character traits and plot elements. You can store all the characteristics in elements next to your editor and later recall the character with just their name and the AI will develop the content based on the ongoing dialogue and traits you provided. AI takes care of the matter, and this way you put less focus on maintaining consistency and more time into writing the story. 

Step #5: Keep Dialogues Natural

While you’re trying to be consistent with the character’s personality and scene, it is equally important to keep dialogues natural as people communicate generally daily.

For instance, you need to use slang appropriately as people use slang all the time. Here is an example of how to make dialogue appear natural and realistic:

Jenna Moreci has created a slang for the novel which fits perfectly.

Make sure dialogues don’t appear alien to the readers. For instance, if you use formal language, it won’t fit well because people don’t use formal language.

Here is an example :

People don’t talk like this. Writing dialogue like this will make readers roll their eyes from boredom.

An easy approach to keeping your dialogues natural and realistic is to listen to how people talk. Spend time in a park or a hotel lobby and record snippets of conversations people have. You can even visit a high school to learn how teenagers talk. You’ll be able to figure out how people talk and communicate. Alternately, check dialogue examples from top authors. See how they make dialogues realistic and world-like.

Needless to say, you don’t have to keep dialogues natural and realistic all the time. You have to, at times, switch to unrealistic dialogues. This is something that fiction writers do a lot especially when they build a new world.

Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, you have to adjust dialogue accordingly. At the end of the day though, speech patterns need to stay consistent otherwise characters will lose believability.

Step #6: Keep Dialogue Short

If there is one thing all new writers should know about how to write dialogue, it’s this: Keep them short.

As much as you can.

Here is what Nigel Watts says about dialogues:

“Dialogue is like a rose bush – it often improves after pruning. I recommend you rewrite your dialogue until it is as brief as you can get it. This will mean making it quite unrealistically to the point. That is fine. Your readers don’t want realistic speech, they want talk which spins the story along.”

Why keep it concise?

To make it reader-friendly. When you cut the dialogue, it might not appear realistic because that’s not how people talk. So there is a fine line between realistic dialogues and short dialogues.

You have to write dialogue like it sounds in real life and then shorten it. Remove anything and everything excessive. Get rid of the unnecessary stuff, that once removed doesn’t change the meaning of the dialogue.

Try shortening the dialogue as much as you can. This is something that you’ll learn with time. Practice. Check dialogue examples.

Here is an example. Check the following dialogue that’s not shortened.

Now here is a revised version of the same dialogue:

Both versions have the same meaning. Readers don’t miss anything. That’s what you have to do with your dialogues. Keep them short. This is one of the basic lessons on how to write dialogue in a book.

Here is what you should do to make dialogue concise. Small talk may happen in real life, but it’s not necessary to include it in your novel. It halts the flow and doesn’t add much value.

Edit dialogues multiple times during the editing process. If you use editing software , make sure you edit dialogues manually and make them short. Once you’re done, ask someone else to reduce the word count of the dialogues. Finally, compare the original version with the new version and see if they still deliver the same message.

Avoiding common mistakes like fluffy dialogue is paramount to a good story. 

Use Squibler if you struggle with writing compact and natural dialogue. You can write however you want not worrying about the errors and mistakes, and then select the text and ask AI to rewrite it or summarize based on your instructions. It will generate the dialogue exactly according to your instructions. 

You can also generate the entire screenplay with Squibler. You need to decide the title of the screenplay and the number of pages and the software will generate the screenplay for you within minutes. You can also use an existing draft to generate the screenplay.

Step #7: Improve Flow

If you have ever written a book or a novel and have used book editing software , I’m sure you’ll know the importance of flow in writing. Dialogues are no different. The flow of the dialogues needs to be taken care of specifically. You need to master how to write dialogue that flows well and can be read effortlessly.

What does dialogue flow mean?

It means the dialogue should flow logically and the readers don’t have to put an effort to understand anything. It should move from one character to another smoothly.

There are several ways to improve the flow of the dialogues such as:

• Improve dialogue tags. Too many or too few tags (e.g. she said, he asked, etc.) ruin the flow. Always tag a piece of dialogue when it’s the first time a character is speaking in the conversation, but refrain from adding tags in every single line as it gets too monotonous. Using too few dialogue tags isn’t a good idea either as readers will have to move back after a few lines to identify whose line they’re reading. There has to be a balance. Be smart with tags.
• Describe the character’s actions as to what they’re doing. That makes dialogue natural and that’s the correct way on how to write a conversation in a book. Naturally, when people talk, they’re always doing something like staring at the wall, playing with the key, chopping vegetables, etc. These are the actions that you should explicitly mention to make dialogues appear natural and to improve flow.
• Don’t add long lengthy paragraphs in dialogue. This ruins the flow. And it never happens. When a person is talking continuously, you have to mention the action of the other person. For instance, add umm, ahh, I see, etc. to maintain the flow and to avoid large paragraphs of text.

Follow these three steps to improve the flow of your dialogues and you’ll be able to write better dialogues that make sense.

If you want to enhance the flow in a matter of seconds without much effort, use Squibler’s advanced AI tools that are modeled in a way that maintains the integrity of the dialogue and keeps the plot binging. 

Step #8: Check Formatting and Punctuation

You can’t hook a reader with poorly formatted and punctually incorrect dialogue. It won’t happen. If you want to know how to write dialogue, you also need to learn how to format dialogue and how to punctuate dialogue.

Here are a few basic punctuating rules that you should always stick with when formatting dialogue:

• Add comma and period within the quotation marks.
• Use a comma between the dialogue and the tag.
• Double quotation marks are used for regular dialogue.
• Use single quotation marks if you have to use a quotation inside a dialogue. Single quotes help the quote stand out within the dialogue.
• When quotations extend and move to another paragraph, don’t close it at the end of the first paragraph rather close it towards the end of the last paragraph.
• Start a new paragraph for new lines of dialogue.
• Em dashes can be used instead of a comma at times for extra emphasis. This also creates variety and improves readability. 
• Pay attention to the proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters when appropriate.
• If you’re ending the dialogue with ellipses, don’t add any other punctuation. 

Poorly written dialogues don’t make sense. When the punctuation isn’t correct, it will ruin the flow and the meaning too. For instance, inner dialogues are put in italics and if you aren’t putting them in italics, readers won’t know if they’re inner dialogues.

Simple things like a period, question mark, and exclamation point all need to be placed perfectly. Basic errors like these are inexcusable.  These types of mistakes can change the meaning and context of the book altogether.

Great dialogue starts with perfect dialogue punctuation and formatting.

If you use an editing tool like Grammarly , it will identify the formatting and punctuation-related issues. However, you’ll still need to go through it manually because there are several errors that the software can’t identify and fix.

The best approach is to check dialogue formatting and punctuation as you write. Once you finish writing your novel or screenplay, you can then go through all the dialogues to check their formatting and punctuation.

Step #9: Recheck and Edit

This is the last step in the dialogue writing process where you have to check dialogues for errors. You can set a schedule as to when you need to recheck written dialogue. You can do it daily, weekly, monthly, or after completing a specific word count or chapter-wise.

But you should do it regularly as you write.

What to check?

Everything ranging from character development to story to flow to dialogue length to formatting. The best approach is to check dialogues individually for Step #1 to Step #8. This will perfect dialogues and your book leaving no room for errors.

Using a writing tool like Squibler will make it easier for you to recheck and edit dialogues as managing your draft gets easier. You can easily edit and tweak your document and keep track of the changes.

In the end, it all comes down to how you write dialogue and how you format dialogue. It’s difficult to tell if you’ve written effective dialogue until readers have gotten their hands on it. All you can do is arm yourself with the best information and write the best dialogue you can. 

Dialogue is essential for fiction writing and if you’re a fiction writer, you should master the art of writing dialogue. It’s an asset to your writing skills.

What you can achieve with dialogue can’t be achieved otherwise. Dialogue gives life to your manuscript. Dialogue gives life to your characters. Dialogue helps you grab the reader’s attention. Dialogue makes your story easy to understand.

You can’t ignore the importance and usefulness of dialogues in writing. I’m confident these 9 steps on how to write dialogue will help you write better novels , screenplays, and books for your readers.

The following are some commonly asked questions about writing dialogue in a narrative:

How do you write engaging dialogue?

To write engaging dialogue, focus on authenticity and purpose. Use a dialogue tag and opt for action beats to convey speakers’ emotions and movements. Keep exchanges concise, injecting tension and subtext where possible. Listen to real conversations to capture natural speech patterns and employ dialogue writing examples to refine your style. Strive for realism while ensuring each line drives the story forward or deepens character development.

How does dialogue engage the reader?

Dialogue engages readers by bringing characters to life through their unique voices and interactions. Realistic dialogue enhances immersion, making characters relatable and believable. Effective dialogue advances the plot, reveals character traits, and conveys emotions, thoughts, and conflicts. By crafting authentic conversations, writers establish connections between characters and readers, fostering empathy and investment in the narrative.

How do you write dialogue step by step?

To write effective dialogue, start by knowing your characters intimately, and understanding their backgrounds, motivations, and personalities. Next, consider the purpose of the conversation within the context of your story. Write dialogue that is concise, authentic, and moves the plot forward. Use tags and action beats judiciously to convey tone and emotion. Finally, revise and refine your dialogue, ensuring it sounds natural and serves the narrative.

How do you engage readers?

Engaging readers hinges on creating compelling characters whose dialogue feels authentic and resonates with the audience. Craft characters with depth, unique voices, and relatable traits. Ensure their dialogue is purposeful, advancing the plot, revealing insights into their personalities, and driving emotional connections. By making the character’s dialogue meaningful and believable, readers become invested in their journeys and the overall narrative.

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• How To Write a Narrative Essay: Guide With Examples
• Learn English
• James Prior
• No Comments
• Updated December 12, 2023

Welcome to the creative world of narrative essays where you get to become the storyteller and craft your own narrative. In this article, we’ll break down how to write a narrative essay, covering the essential elements and techniques that you need to know.

Table of Contents

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay is a form of writing where the author recounts a personal experience or story. Unlike other types of essays, a narrative essay allows you to share a real-life event or sequence of events, often drawing from personal insights and emotions.

In a narrative essay, you take on the role of a storyteller, employing vivid details and descriptive language to transport the reader into the world of your story. The narrative often unfolds in chronological order, guiding the audience through a journey of experiences, reflections, and sometimes, a lesson learned.

The success of a narrative essay lies in your ability to create a compelling narrative arc. This means establishing a clear beginning, middle, and end. This structure helps build suspense, maintain the reader’s interest, and deliver a cohesive and impactful story. Ultimately, a well-crafted narrative essay not only narrates an event but also communicates the deeper meaning or significance behind the experience, making it a powerful and memorable piece of writing and leaving a lasting impression on the reader.

Types of Narrative Essays

Narrative essays come in various forms, each with unique characteristics. The most common type of narrative essay are personal narrative essays where you write about a personal experience. This can cover a whole range of topics as these examples of personal narrative essays illustrate. As a student in school or college, you’ll often be asked to write these types of essays. You may also need to write them later in life when applying for jobs and describing your past experiences.

However, this isn’t the only type of narrative essay. There are also fictional narrative essays that you can write using your imagination, and various subject specific narrative essays that you might have come across without even realizing it.

So, it’s worth knowing about the different types of narrative essays and what they each focus on before we move on to how to write them.

Here are some common types of narrative essays:

• Focus on a personal experience or event from the author’s life.
• Use the first-person perspective to convey the writer’s emotions and reflections.
• Can take many forms, from science fiction and fantasy to adventure and romance.
• Spark the imagination to create captivating stories.
• Provide a detailed account of the author’s life, often covering a significant timespan.
• Explore key life events, achievements, challenges, and personal growth.
• Reflect on the writer’s experiences with language, reading, or writing.
• Explore how these experiences have shaped the writer’s identity and skills
• Document the author’s experiences and insights gained from a journey or travel.
• Describe places visited, people encountered, and the lessons learned during the trip.
• Explore historical events or periods through a personal lens.
• Combine factual information with the writer’s perspective and experiences.

The narrative essay type you’ll work with often depends on the purpose, audience, and nature of the story being told. So, how should you write narrative essays?

How To Write Narrative Essays

From selecting the right topic to building a captivating storyline, we explore the basics to guide you in creating engaging narratives. So, grab your pen, and let’s delve into the fundamentals of writing a standout narrative essay.

Before we start, it’s worth pointing out that most narrative essays are written in the first-person. Through the use of first-person perspective, you get to connect with the reader, offering a glimpse into your thoughts, reactions, and the significance of the story being shared.

Let’s get into how to create these stories:

Write your plot

If you want to tell a compelling story you need a good plot. Your plot will give your story a structure. Every good story includes some kind of conflict. You should start with setting the scene for readers. After this, you introduce a challenge or obstacle. Readers will keep reading until the end to find out how you managed to overcome it.

Your story should reach a climax where tension is highest. This will be the turning point that leads to a resolution. For example, moving outside of your comfort zone was difficult and scary. It wasn’t easy at first but eventually, you grew braver and more confident. Readers should discover more about who you are as a person through what they read.

A seasoned writer knows how to craft a story that connects with an audience and creates an impact.

Hook readers with your introduction

In your introduction, you will introduce the main idea of your essay and set the context. Ways to make it more engaging are to:

• Use sensory images to describe the setting in which your story takes place.
• Use a quote that illustrates your main idea.
• Pose an intriguing question.
• Introduce an unexpected fact or a statement that grabs attention.

Develop your characters

You need to make readers feel they know any characters you introduce in your narrative essay. You can do this by revealing their personalities and quirks through the actions they take. It is always better to show the actions of characters rather than giving facts about them. Describing a character’s body language and features can also reveal a great deal about the person. You can check out these adjectives to describe a person to get some inspiration.

Use dialogue

Dialogue can bring your narrative essay to life. Most fiction books use dialogue extensively . It helps to move the story along in a subtle way. When you allow characters to talk, what they have to say seems more realistic. You can use similes , metaphors, and other parts of speech to make your story more compelling. Just make sure the dialogue is written clearly with the right punctuation so readers understand exactly who is talking.

Work on the pace of the story

Your story must flow along at a steady pace. If there’s too much action, readers may get confused. If you use descriptive writing, try not to overdo it. The clear, concise language throughout will appeal to readers more than lengthy descriptions.

Build up towards a climax

This is the point at which the tension in your story is the highest. A compelling climax takes readers by surprise. They may not have seen it coming. This doesn’t mean your climax should come out of left field. You need to carefully lead up to it step by step and guide readers along. When you reveal it they should be able to look back and realize it’s logical.

Cut out what you don’t need

Your story will suffer if you include too much detail that doesn’t move your story along. It may flow better once you cut out some unnecessary details. Most narrative essays are about five paragraphs but this will depend on the topic and requirements.

In a narrative essay, you share your experiences and insights. The journey you take your readers on should leave them feeling moved or inspired. It takes practice to learn how to write in a way that causes this reaction. With a good plot as your guide, it’s easier to write a compelling story that flows toward a satisfying resolution.

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How to Write Interesting and Effective Dialogue

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Writing verbal conversations or dialogue is often one of the trickiest parts of creative writing. Crafting effective dialogue within the context of a narrative requires much more than following one quote with another. With practice, though, you can learn how to write natural-sounding dialogue that is creative and compelling.

The Purpose of Dialogue

Put simply, dialogue is narrative conveyed through speech by two or more characters. Effective dialogue should do many things at once, not just convey information. It should set the scene, advance action, give insight into each character, and foreshadow future dramatic action.

Dialogue doesn't have to be grammatically correct; it should read like actual speech. However, there must be a balance between realistic speech and readability. Dialogue is also a tool for character development. Word choice tells a reader a lot about a person: their appearance, ethnicity, sexuality, background, even morality. It can also tell the reader how the writer feels about a certain character.

How to Write Direct Dialogue

Speech, also known as direct dialogue, can be an effective means of conveying information quickly. But most real-life conversations are not that interesting to read. An exchange between two friends may go something like this:

"Hi, Tony," said Katy.

"Hey," Tony answered.

"What's wrong?" Katy asked.

"Nothing," Tony said.

"Really? You're not acting like nothing's wrong."

Pretty tiresome dialogue, right? By including nonverbal details in your dialogue, you can articulate emotion through action. This adds dramatic tension and is more engaging to read. Consider this revision:

"Hi, Tony."

Tony looked down at his shoe, dug in his toe and pushed around a pile of dust.

"Hey," he replied.

Katy could tell something was wrong.

Sometimes saying nothing or saying the opposite of what we know a character feels is the best way to create dramatic tension. If a character wants to say "I love you," but his actions or words say "I don't care," the reader will cringe at the missed opportunity.

How to Write Indirect Dialogue

Indirect dialogue doesn't rely on speech. Instead, it uses thoughts, memories, or recollections of past conversations to reveal important narrative details. Often, a writer will combine direct and indirect dialogue to increase dramatic tension, as in this example:

Katy braced herself. Something was wrong.

Formatting and Style

To write dialogue that is effective, you must also pay attention to formatting and style. Correct use of tags, punctuation , and paragraphs can be as important as the words themselves.

Remember that punctuation goes inside quotations. This keeps the dialogue clear and separate from the rest of the narrative. For example: "I can't believe you just did that!"

Start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. If there is action involved with a speaking character, keep the description of the action within the same paragraph as the character's dialogue.

Dialogue tags other than "said" are best used sparingly, if at all. Often a writer uses them to try to convey a certain emotion. For example:

"But I don't want to go to sleep yet," he whined.

Instead of telling the reader that the boy whined, a good writer will describe the scene in a way that conjures the image of a whining little boy:

He stood in the doorway with his hands balled into little fists at his sides. His red, tear-rimmed eyes glared up at his mother. "But I don't want to go to sleep yet."

Practice Makes Perfect

Writing dialogue is like any other skill. It requires constant practice if you want to improve as a writer. Here are a few tips to help you prepare to write effective dialogue.

• Start a dialogue diary. Practice speech patterns and vocabulary that may be foreign to you. This will give you the opportunity to really get to know your characters.
• Listen and take notes. Carry a small notebook with you and write down phrases, words, or whole conversations verbatim to help develop your ear.
• Read. Reading will hone your creative abilities. It will help familiarize you with the form and flow of narration and dialogue until it becomes more natural in your own writing.
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Essay Papers Writing Online

A complete guide to writing captivating and engaging narrative essays that will leave your readers hooked.

When it comes to storytelling, the ability to captivate your audience is paramount. Creating a narrative essay that holds the reader’s attention requires finesse and creativity. A well-crafted story is not merely a sequence of events; it should transport the reader to another time and place, evoking emotions and leaving a lasting impression. Crafting a compelling narrative essay requires careful consideration of the elements that make a story interesting and engaging.

Dive into the depths of your imagination and unleash your creativity to give life to your narrative. The key to an engaging story lies in your ability to paint vivid images with your words. Strong sensory details and descriptive language allow readers to visualize the scenes and connect with the story on a deeper level. Engage the senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell to take your readers on a sensory journey through your narrative.

In addition to capturing the reader’s imagination, establish a relatable protagonist to anchor your story. Your main character should be someone your readers can empathize with, someone they can root for. By creating a three-dimensional character with relatable qualities, you invite the reader to become emotionally invested in the narrative. Develop a character with flaws, desires, and a clear motivation for their actions. This will add depth and complexity to your story as your protagonist navigates through challenges and evolves.

Choose a captivating topic that resonates with your audience

When it comes to writing a narrative essay, one of the most important factors in capturing your audience’s attention is selecting a captivating topic. A captivating topic will resonate with your readers and draw them into your story, making them eager to read on and discover more.

Choosing a topic that resonates with your audience means selecting a subject that they can relate to or find interesting. It’s essential to consider the interests, experiences, and emotions of your target audience when deciding on a topic. Think about what will grab their attention and keep them engaged throughout your essay.

One way to choose a captivating topic is by drawing from personal experiences. Reflect on significant events or moments in your life that have had a lasting impact on you. These experiences can provide the basis for a compelling narrative, as they often resonate with others who have gone through similar situations.

Another approach is to explore topics that are relevant or timely. Think about current events or social issues that are capturing public attention. By addressing these topics in your narrative essay, you can tap into the existing interest and engage readers who are already invested in the subject matter.

Additionally, consider incorporating elements of surprise or intrigue into your chosen topic. This could involve telling a story with an unexpected twist or focusing on an unusual or lesser-known aspect of a familiar subject. By presenting something unexpected or unique, you can pique your audience’s curiosity and make them eager to discover what happens next.

In summary, selecting a captivating topic is crucial for creating a compelling narrative essay. By choosing a subject that resonates with your audience, drawing from personal experiences, addressing relevant topics, and incorporating elements of surprise, you can capture and hold your readers’ attention, ensuring that they stay engaged throughout your story.

Develop well-rounded characters to drive your narrative

In order to create a captivating story, it is essential to develop well-rounded characters that will drive your narrative forward. These characters should be multi-dimensional and relatable, with their own unique personalities, motivations, and struggles. By doing so, you will not only make your readers more invested in your story, but also add depth and complexity to your narrative.

When developing your characters, it is important to consider their backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. A character’s past experiences can shape their actions and decision-making throughout the story, while their beliefs can provide insight into their values and worldview. By delving into these aspects, you can create characters that feel authentic and true to life.

Furthermore, it is crucial to give your characters goals and motivations that propel them forward in the narrative. These goals can be internal or external, and can range from a desire for love and acceptance to a quest for power or revenge. By giving your characters something to strive for, you create tension and conflict that drives the plot.

In addition to goals and motivations, it is important to give your characters flaws and weaknesses. No one is perfect, and by acknowledging this, you create characters that are more relatable and human. Flaws can also create obstacles and challenges for your characters to overcome, adding depth and complexity to your story.

Lastly, remember to show, rather than tell, your readers about your characters. Instead of explicitly stating their traits and qualities, let their actions, dialogue, and interactions with other characters reveal who they are. This will allow your readers to form their own connections with the characters and become more engaged with your narrative.

By taking the time to develop well-rounded characters with unique personalities, motivations, and flaws, you will create a narrative that is not only compelling, but also resonates with your readers on a deeper level. So, dive into the minds and hearts of your characters, and let them drive your story to new heights.

Create a clear and engaging plot with a strong conflict

In order to craft a captivating narrative essay, it is essential to develop a plot that is both coherent and captivating. The plot serves as the foundation of your story, providing the framework that will guide your readers through a series of events and actions. To create an engaging plot, it is crucial to introduce a strong conflict that will propel the story forward and keep your readers hooked from start to finish.

The conflict is the driving force that creates tension and suspense in your narrative. It presents the main obstacle or challenge that your protagonist must overcome, creating a sense of urgency and keeping your readers invested in the outcome. Without a strong conflict, your story may lack direction and fail to hold your readers’ interest.

When developing your plot, consider the various elements that can contribute to a compelling conflict. This could be a clash between characters, a struggle against nature or society, or a battle within oneself. The conflict should be meaningful and have significant stakes for your protagonist, pushing them to make difficult choices and undergo personal growth.

To ensure that your plot remains clear and engaging, it is important to establish a logical progression of events. Each scene and action should contribute to the overall development of the conflict and the resolution of the story. Avoid unnecessary detours or subplots that do not advance the main conflict, as they can distract from the core narrative and confuse your readers.

In addition to a strong conflict, a clear and engaging plot also requires well-developed characters that your readers can root for and relate to. The actions and decisions of your characters should be motivated by their personalities, desires, and beliefs, adding depth and complexity to the narrative. By creating multidimensional characters, you can further enhance the conflict and make it more compelling.

When crafting your plot, consider the pacing and structure of your narrative. Gradually increase the tension and suspense as the conflict intensifies, leading to a climactic moment that resolves the conflict and provides a sense of closure. Use techniques such as foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and plot twists to keep your readers engaged and guessing.

In conclusion, creating a clear and engaging plot with a strong conflict is essential for writing a compelling narrative essay. By introducing a meaningful conflict and developing it throughout the story, you can capture your readers’ attention and keep them invested in the outcome. Remember to establish a logical progression of events, develop well-rounded characters, and consider the pacing and structure of your narrative. With these elements in place, you can create a memorable story that resonates with your readers.

Use vivid and descriptive language to bring your story to life

When it comes to writing a compelling narrative essay, one of the most important elements is the use of vivid and descriptive language. This technique helps to immerse your readers in the story, making it more engaging and memorable. By carefully selecting your words and painting a clear picture with your descriptions, you can bring your story to life and make it resonate with your audience.

Instead of simply stating facts and events, try to use descriptive language that appeals to the senses. For example, instead of saying “It was a sunny day,” you could say “The sun bathed the landscape in a warm golden glow, casting long shadows across the grass.” Using words that evoke specific sensations and feelings can help your readers to not only see the scene but also experience it.

In addition to appealing to the senses, you can also use vivid language to create a strong emotional connection with your readers. By choosing words that carry a particular emotional weight, you can elicit a specific response from your audience. For instance, instead of saying “She was sad,” you could say “Her heart ached with a deep sense of loss, tears streaming down her face.” By using descriptive language to convey emotions, you can make your readers feel the same way your characters do, creating a more powerful and immersive reading experience.

Another effective technique is to use literary devices such as similes and metaphors to add depth and richness to your narrative. By comparing seemingly unrelated things, you can make your descriptions more vivid and memorable. For example, instead of saying “The waves were big,” you could say “The waves crashed against the shore like giants, their fury and power shaking the very foundations of the earth.” By using similes and metaphors, you can create vivid and imaginative descriptions that transport your readers into the world of your story.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use strong and colorful language to convey the tone and atmosphere of your narrative. Whether your story is light-hearted and humorous or dark and suspenseful, your choice of words can greatly impact the overall feel of the story. By carefully selecting descriptive adjectives and powerful verbs, you can set the mood and create an immersive reading experience that leaves a lasting impression.

In conclusion, using vivid and descriptive language is essential when writing a compelling narrative essay. By appealing to the senses, evoking emotions, using literary devices, and setting the tone, you can bring your story to life and captivate your readers. So, don’t be afraid to unleash your creativity and use language that paints a vibrant and memorable picture in the minds of your audience.

Incorporate sensory details to immerse your readers in the story

When crafting a compelling narrative essay, it’s important to engage your readers on a sensory level. By incorporating sensory details, you can create a vivid experience that immerses your readers in the story. Through the use of descriptive language and vivid imagery, you can evoke the senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to bring your story to life.

One way to engage your readers’ senses is by utilizing descriptive language to paint a visual picture. Instead of simply telling your readers what is happening, show them through descriptive details. For example, instead of saying “the sun was shining,” you could say “the golden rays of the sun illuminated the tranquil meadow, casting a warm glow on the vibrant wildflowers.” By using descriptive language, you can transport your readers to the setting of your story and engage their sense of sight.

In addition to engaging the sense of sight, you can also incorporate sensory details to appeal to your readers’ sense of sound. This can be achieved through the use of onomatopoeia, dialogue, and descriptive language. For example, instead of saying “the dog barked,” you could say “the dog’s sharp, piercing bark reverberated through the quiet neighborhood, causing heads to turn and hearts to race.” By incorporating sensory details related to sound, you can make your readers feel as if they are truly experiencing the events of your story.

Another way to immerse your readers in the story is by appealing to their sense of smell and taste. Incorporate descriptive language that allows your readers to imagine the scents and flavors of the narrative. For example, instead of saying “the food smelled delicious,” you could say “the aroma of the sizzling garlic and onions wafted through the air, making my mouth water in anticipation.” By incorporating sensory details related to smell and taste, you can make your readers feel as if they are present in the scene and experiencing it firsthand.

Lastly, don’t forget to engage your readers’ sense of touch. By describing the textures and physical sensations experienced by the characters or narrator, you can create a more immersive reading experience. For example, instead of saying “it was hot outside,” you could say “the scorching sun beat down on my skin, causing beads of sweat to form and trickle down my forehead.” By incorporating sensory details related to touch, you can make your readers feel as if they are physically present in the story.

Incorporating sensory details into your narrative essays is essential for creating a compelling and immersive reading experience. By engaging your readers’ senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, you can transport them to the world of your story and make them feel as if they are living it alongside your characters. So, don’t be afraid to use descriptive language and vivid imagery to captivate your readers’ imaginations and immerse them in your narrative.

Pace your narrative effectively to maintain suspense and interest

Mastering the art of pacing is crucial in creating a compelling narrative that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. By controlling the rhythm and tempo of your story, you can effectively maintain suspense and interest, making your readers eager to find out what happens next.

One way to achieve this is by varying the length and complexity of your sentences and paragraphs. Short, concise sentences can create a sense of urgency, while longer, more descriptive ones can slow down the pace and build anticipation. By using a combination of both, you can create a dynamic flow that engages your readers and keeps them guessing.

Another technique to consider is the strategic placement of cliffhangers and plot twists. These unexpected moments can interrupt the flow of the narrative and leave readers wanting more. Whether it’s a shocking revelation or a sudden change in direction, these moments of suspense can captivate your audience and propel them forward in the story.

Additionally, carefully timing the reveal of key information can help maintain suspense and interest. By strategically withholding important details until the opportune moment, you can create a sense of curiosity and anticipation in your readers. This can be achieved through foreshadowing, hinting at future events, or by gradually unveiling the truth behind a mystery.

Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of well-placed pauses and moments of reflection. By allowing your characters – and your readers – to take a breath and reflect on what has just happened, you can create tension and build anticipation for what’s to come. These moments can also provide the opportunity for emotional connection and deeper character development.

In conclusion, pacing your narrative effectively is essential in maintaining suspense and interest throughout your story. By utilizing a combination of sentence and paragraph length variations, strategic cliffhangers, well-timed reveals, and moments of reflection, you can create a captivating and engaging narrative that keeps your readers eagerly turning the pages.

Pay attention to the overall structure and organization of your essay

Ensuring that your narrative essay has a clear and well-organized structure is essential in captivating your readers and keeping them engaged throughout your story. The overall organization and flow of your essay play a crucial role in conveying your message effectively.

When crafting your narrative essay, it is vital to consider the structure that best suits your story. You can choose from various structures, such as a chronological order, a reflective approach, or even a non-linear format. Whatever structure you decide on, make sure it aligns with the theme and tone of your narrative.

Before diving into the writing process, take some time to outline the main events and key points you want to cover in your essay. This will help you establish a logical flow and prevent your story from becoming disjointed or confusing for the reader.

Organization:

Effective organization involves arranging your ideas and events in a coherent manner. Start your essay with a compelling and attention-grabbing introduction that sets the scene and introduces the main characters or your central thesis. From there, progress through your story by presenting the events in a logical sequence.

Transition smoothly between each paragraph or section to maintain the flow of your essay. Use transitional phrases or words, such as “next,” “meanwhile,” or “afterward,” to guide your readers through the narrative. This will help them understand the chronology of the events and prevent any confusion.

It is also important to give your readers a break from the main plot by incorporating descriptive details, character development, and dialogue. These elements add depth to your story and engage the readers on a more emotional level.

In conclusion, paying close attention to the overall structure and organization of your essay is vital to creating a compelling narrative. By choosing a suitable structure and organizing your ideas effectively, you can guide your readers through your story in a captivating and engaging manner.

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How to Format Dialogue in Your Novel or Short Story

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Aug 30, 2021 • 4 min read

Whether you’re working on a novel or short story, writing dialogue can be a challenge . If you’re concerned about how to punctuate dialogue or how to format your quotation marks, fear not; the rules of dialogue in fiction and nonfiction can be mastered by following a few simple rules.

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Como escrever um ensaio narrativo: Insights criativos

Ensaios narrativos são uma tarefa acadêmica cada vez mais popular que exige que os alunos narrem histórias pessoais ou experiências de vida. As narrativas permitem que os escritores exibam sua criatividade, imaginação e talentos de contar histórias enquanto escrevem para um acadêmico curso. A escrita de ensaios narrativos pode parecer intimidante no início, mas deve se tornar administrável com as ferramentas e conselhos adequados ao longo do tempo . Aqui, você obterá os insights criativos e dicas necessárias para escrever uma redação narrativa com sucesso. Desde selecionar um tópico e desenvolver um enredo intrigante até em desenvolvimento personagens envolventes e diálogos, este passo a passo guia irá guiá-lo por todas as fases da criação de um ensaio narrativo. Então if Se você quer saber como escrever uma redação narrativa cativante que obtenha as melhores notas, continue lendo!

Como escrever uma redação narrativa?

Escrever uma redação narrativa pode parecer intimidador para iniciantes na escrita acadêmica; no entanto, com criatividade, inspiração e alguns insights úteis, é possível aprender rapidamente como compor tais peças. Neste curso artigo , Nós vamos veja insights criativos, dicas e técnicas que tornam a escrita de ensaios narrativos simples!

Selecione um tópico envolvente

O primeiro passo para escrever uma redação narrativa envolve selecionar um tópico envolvente. Esta pode ser qualquer coisa, desde experiência pessoal, eventos que você testemunhou ou ouviu falar, ou incidentes fictícios – qualquer coisa que toque uma corda emocional. Escrever a partir da emoção permite que sua criatividade floresça enquanto extrai de memórias pessoais para contar uma história de ensaio narrativa envolvente.

Descreva sua mensagem/tema Claramente

Depois de escolher um tópico, reflita sobre sua mensagem ou tema. O que você gostaria que seu leitor levasse da sua história? Um ensaio narrativo bem estruturado deve deixe os leitores com uma compreensão evidente de sua mensagem central enquanto ajuda a manter a escrita focada e no caminho certo com os pontos principais. Este exercício também pode ajudar a estruturar uma redação com sucesso!

Crie descrições vívidas e diálogos realistas

Confrontado com seu tópico e mensagem em mente, crie uma introdução intrigante. Sua introdução é essencial para atrair leitores para sua história, ao mesmo tempo em que define suas expectativas de como o resto do ensaio se desenrolará. Comece selecionando a cena ou apresentando os principais participantes; use uma linguagem descritiva para atrair leitores para seu mundo!

Uma vez que a introdução está escrito , desenvolva parágrafos do corpo para detalhar eventos que levam ao clímax da sua narrativa. Certifique-se de que esses parágrafos do corpo usem detalhes vívidos, descrições animadas e diálogos realistas que dão vida à sua narrativa – use linguagem sensorial para que sua leitor podem vivenciar tudo ao seu redor conforme a história se desenvolve!

Incorporar tensão/suspense

À medida que sua narrativa se aproxima do clímax, crie tensão e suspense incluindo conflito entre personagens ou circunstâncias, sejam elas internas (por exemplo, lutas emocionais) ou externas (por exemplo, a batalha entre facções rivais). O conflito acrescenta excitação e intriga ao mesmo tempo em que enfatiza sua mensagem ou tema.

Leve sua história a uma conclusão satisfatória

Quando sua história atinge o clímax, o tempo chegou para dar à narrativa um final satisfatório. Isso pode envolver a resolução de conflitos, mostrando como o personagem principal cresceu ou mudou, ou enfatizando mensagens ou temas principais que você deseja que o leitor entenda. – dando um sentindo que a história chegou a uma conclusão natural e deve deixar os leitores satisfeitos e se sentindo eles sabem que chegou à sua conclusão natural.

Depois que seu ensaio narrativo estiver concluído, revise e edite cuidadosamente seu trabalho. Verifique se há problemas de gramática, problemas de estrutura de frases estranhas e inconsistências no enredo antes de verificar para garantir que cada parágrafo flua naturalmente um para o outro; isso aumentará a legibilidade e a eficácia para leitores de ensaios narrativos.

Por fim, mostre sua redação narrativa a familiares ou amigos de confiança para receber feedback e sugestões de melhoria. Lembre-se de que escrever é um processo; receber conselhos construtivos só fortalecerá e refinará suas habilidades para produzir um ensaio narrativo ainda mais forte.

Perguntas frequentes sobre como escrever ensaios narrativos

P: O que é uma redação narrativa? R: Um ensaio narrativo é um tipo de ensaio que conta uma narrativa ou reconta experiências pessoais por meio de detalhes vívidos, personagens, diálogos e uma estrutura cronológica. Um ensaio narrativo deve envolver seus leitores por meio de estruturas narrativas envolventes com descrições vívidas, personagens e diálogos que atraiam os leitores para sua estrutura narrativa.

P: Como devo escolher um tópico para uma redação narrativa? A: Selecione um evento, experiência pessoal, momento memorável ou lição de vida que tem grande significado pessoal para você como base para um tópico de redação narrativa.

P: Qual é a estrutura de uma redação narrativa? R: Ensaios narrativos geralmente consistem em uma introdução (incluindo gancho e declaração de tese), parágrafos do corpo (contando cronologicamente) e conclusão (resumindo os pontos principais e fornecendo reflexão ou moral).

P: Posso usar uma perspectiva de primeira pessoa em uma redação narrativa? R: Sim, usar a narração em primeira pessoa ajuda a construir um vínculo íntimo entre escritor e leitor.

P: Como posso envolver o leitor na minha redação narrativa? R: Você pode usar linguagem descritiva, detalhes sensoriais, diálogo e apelo emocional para atrair seu leitor e dar vida à história. Crie cenas vívidas pintando uma imagem inspiradora enquanto envolve os sentidos do leitor com imagens vívidas que trazem vida e emoção à história.

P: Devo incluir um conflito ou problema claro em uma redação narrativa? R: Sim, adicionando tensão ao incluir remover filtragem conflitos ou problemas impulsionam a narrativa e mantêm os leitores interessados.

P: Como posso desenvolver meus personagens de forma eficaz em uma redação narrativa? R: Uma redação narrativa exige que você descreva detalhadamente seus personagens, mostrando seus pensamentos e emoções e como eles agem ou interagem na história.

P: Por que manter a ordem cronológica é tão importante? em ensaios narrativos? A: Manter a ordem cronológica geralmente ajuda os leitores a seguir sua história mais facilmente. No entanto, você pode usar técnicas como flashbacks ou prenúncios se eles melhorarem a narrativa.

P: Devo incluir reflexão/lição aprendida na conclusão do meu ensaio narrativo? A: Incorporando reflexões ou declarações de lições aprendidas na conclusão de um ensaio narrativo é uma prática comum e dá aos leitores algo significativo para tirar de sua experiência.

P: Como posso tornar minha redação narrativa mais envolvente e memorável? R: Torne sua redação narrativa envolvente e memorável incluindo linguagem descritiva, detalhes sensoriais, anedotas específicas e uma voz envolvente. Compartilhe percepções e perspectivas pessoais como parte de seu tema geral.

P: Posso usar recursos literários como símiles e metáforas em uma redação narrativa? R: Sim, usar recursos literários como símiles, metáforas e imagens pode melhorar significativamente a qualidade do seu ensaio narrativo, adicionando riqueza e profundidade à sua descrição e narrativa.

P: Devo revisar e editar minha redação narrativa antes de finalizá-la? R: Com certeza. Revisão e edição são etapas vitais ao escrever ensaios narrativos; reserve um tempo para examinar a clareza, a coerência, a gramática, os problemas de ortografia e a eficácia geral na narrativa.

P: Devo pedir feedback de outras pessoas sobre minha redação narrativa? R: Buscar a contribuição de colegas, professores ou grupos de escrita pode oferecer um feedback inestimável para ajudar sua redação narrativa a brilhar intensamente. Considere as sugestões deles cuidadosamente ao revisar.

P: É necessário incluir uma abertura ou um gancho envolvente no meu ensaio narrativo? A: absolutamente necessário se o seu ensaio narrativo pretende atrair leitores desde o início! Tente começar seu ensaio narrativo com uma anedota interessante, citação ou cena descritiva como seu gancho para prender a atenção deles e mantê-los lendo seu ensaio.

P: Devo variar a estrutura das minhas frases e incorporar transições em uma redação narrativa? R: Utilizar transições pode criar um fluxo suave que melhora a legibilidade e aumenta a coerência e a estrutura do seu texto.

P: Devo usar uma linguagem descritiva para criar um cenário vívido na minha redação narrativa? R: Com certeza. Use palavras para pintar um quadro envolvente para os leitores que fará com que o conto ganhe vida para eles. Envolva os sentidos deles para que eles se tornem parte do seu conto!

Escrever uma redação narrativa eficaz pode ser fácil! Com dicas e técnicas úteis, qualquer um pode criar redações narrativas cativantes que prendam os leitores. Ao criar redações narrativas, é crucial estabelecer objetivos claros, públicos-alvo e conhecimento profundo da sua história para evitar cometer erros ao escrevê-las.

Comece forte criando uma introdução que defina o cenário e atraia os leitores para uma leitura intrigante. Acompanhe os eventos usando uma linguagem descritiva que envolva todos os sentidos, ao mesmo tempo em que cria imagens vívidas para os leitores visualizarem.

O diálogo também é crucial ao escrever uma redação narrativa; sua importância pode ajudar a dar vida aos personagens e, ao mesmo tempo, contribuir para seu desenvolvimento e progressão geral.

Revisão e edição of seu trabalho para verificar erros ortográficos e gramaticais is também vital para produzir ensaios impecáveis. Tire um tempo para escrever antes de revisitar mais tarde com novos olhos; obtenha feedback de um mentor r/f amigo conforme necessário para melhorar suas habilidades de escrita.

No geral, criar uma redação narrativa envolvente envolve seguir algumas diretrizes e truques básicos. Com esforço, qualquer um pode criar um trabalho que capture a atenção do leitor com seu potencial narrativo – seja fiel à sua visão enquanto se diverte elaborando esta redação narrativa!

Sobre o autor

CJ cresceu admirando livros. Sua família era dona de uma pequena livraria durante sua infância, e ele passava os fins de semana folheando livro após livro, sempre se certificando de ler os que pareciam mais interessantes. Não mudou muito desde então, exceto que agora alguns desses livros interessantes que ele pega da prateleira foram projetados por sua empresa!