Dialogue Writing

If you want to write a story, dialogues are a very important part of the story. Writing a good dialogue requires a set of rules to follow because a bad dialogue can change the story and the dialogue’s meaning as well. Dialogue writing is a very important part of English writing.

Dialogue is basically a conversation between two or more people. In fiction, it is a verbal conversation between two or more conversations. Sometimes it is a self-talking dialogue, they are known as a Monolog.

If the dialogue is bad the reader will put the book down. Without effective dialogues, the whole plot of the story will collapse on its own structure. Therefore, writing dialogue in a way that attracts the reader to be more involved in the story is not a daunting task. We will guide you to write impactful dialogue with correct rules.

Points to be Remember 

1. The students need to read the preceding and the following dialogues.

2. They must understand the topic well and make points.

3. The tenses should be accurate according to the dialogue.

4. It should seem like a natural conversation.

5. The words used should not be vague and should convey the message.

Tips to Write Dialogue

1. Speak out the Dialogue loudly as it will help you resonate on your own dialogue and make you understand how it will sound to the reader.

2. Keep your dialogue brief and impactful as adding extra details will only deviate the reader’s mind from the main point.

3. Give each character a unique way of talking or voice. It will add an extra character trait and readers can identify the character just by reading his dialogue.

4. While writing the dialogue always remember whom the dialogue is being addressed to.

5. Dialogues should not be lengthy and confusing for the readers as through the dialogue only the story moves.

Format of Dialogue Writing

1. New Paragraph for Every Speaker

Every speaker gets a new paragraph. Each time a speaker says something, you have to put in a fresh paragraph, even if it is just one word. 

2. Punctuations Come under Quotation Marks

All the punctuations used with dialogue must be put under the quotes. 

3. Remove End Quote if the Paragraph is Long

If the paragraph of dialogue is too long and you need to change the paragraph, then there is no need to put end quotes. 

4. Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags i.e. He says/she says are always written outside the dialogue and is separated by a comma. When dialogue ends in a question or exclamation mark, tags that follow start in lower case.

For eg- He says, “We should start our own business.” 

5. Use Single Quotation Mark to Quote Something with a Dialogue

If you have to quote something within a dialogue we should put single quotes as double quotes are already enclosing the main dialogue.

For eg- Bill shouted, “ ‘boo!’ you lost the game.

6. The Dialogue Ends with an Ellipsis

If the Dialogue ends with an ellipsis, we should not add a comma or any other punctuation. For eg- She stared at the sunset. “I guess you’ll go back to doing what you do and I will…” her voice drifted off.

Solved Example

1. Write a Dialogue between You and Your Teacher about which Course to Study at Vacations. 

Child- Good Morning Sir, how are you?

Teacher- I am completely fine. What about you?

Student- I was wondering which course to learn in my vacation.

Teacher- It can be confusing with so many options online. You should make a list and narrow it down as per your interest.

Student- I have tried that but still I am left with three options- Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning or Data science.

Teacher- Well! All of them are very interesting courses, but as far as I remember you have always been interested in Artificial Intelligence.

Student- Yes! I do because I feel it is our future.

Teacher- Well then its no harm in pursuing it and later if you find it less interesting you can always switch.

Student- Yes it sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

2. Complete the following Dialogues-

Megha calls up Rajat to make a plan for New years. Complete the dialogue between Megha and Rajat by filling in the gaps.

Megha :  (i) ………………….. this New year?

Rajat:  I don’t have any plans.

Megha:  How do you like the idea (ii) …………………. the  Sapna’s party?

Rajat:  That sounds fantastic, But I (iii) ………………….my parent’s permission.

Megha:  I’ll come to your house this evening and request your parents to allow you to join me to go to a party.

Rajat:  Ok.

Megha :  (iv) …………………….. in the evening?

Rajat:  Yes. They will be at home.

Rohit:  Then I’ll surely come.

Basic Rules for Discussion All Writers Should Follow

Here are some basic rules for writing a conversation:

• Each speaker receives a new category - Every time someone speaks, he shows this by creating a new category. Yes, even if your characters say only one word, they get new categories.

• Each category has an indent - The only exception to this is at the beginning of the chapter or after the break, where the first line has not been postponed, including the discussion.

• The punctuation marks are inserted into the quotes - Whenever punctuation is part of the spoken word, it enters the quotation marks so that the reader can know how the dialogue is spoken.

• Long sentences with few paragraphs do not have end quotations - You’ll see a lot of this below, but overall, when one character speaks for a long time with different categories, the quotation marks are eventually removed, but you start the next paragraph with them.

• Use singular quotes when a speaker quotes another - If a character is present who says, “Rohan, do you like it when girls say,‘ I’m fine ’?”, One quote shows what someone else said.

• Skip the small talk and focus on the important information only - Unless that little talk is accompanied by character development, skip and get to the point, this is not real life and you will feel very liable if you have too much.