Mastering Dialogue: How to Write Realistic Conversations in Your Stories
- Livvy Skelton-Price
- Jul 5
- 2 min read
Writing dialogue can be one of the most challenging aspects of storytelling. How do you make your characters’ conversations feel authentic and engaging?
Here are a few tips I've learned along the way:
1) Eavesdrop.
I know this one is rude, and no one likes to admit they eavesdrop on conversations. But as a writer, you need to know how people talk - and you need to know how people talk when they think others aren't listening. Eavesdropping is the best way to gain an understanding of how real conversations are had by real people.
Head to a cafe and enjoy.
2) Understand what your characters are trying to say.
Everyone, including characters, has a motive in a conversation. They might be trying to get their point across, get to know the person, or cut it short and get out of this social interaction. Whatever the motive for being in the conversation, your characters need them. They do not need to be the same motive. In fact, I believe the story becomes more interesting if the people in the conversation have different motives for being there.
3) Keep too much info out of the conversation.
A lot of people will try to express a lot of information within a conversation, but the only time we really can explain ourselves is when we're lecturing. And no one has their full attention on a lecture. Keep the info dumps short. Have interruptions, or make the character forget. Listen to people talking and take note of how you talk, too. See what's actually realistic. You may notice a lot of conversations are pretty unproductive.
What are your tips for writing dialogue?
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