1. How and why to use it in your writing
Dialogue
How and why to use it in your writing

2. The What and the Why
Dialogue – n. A written or spoken conversation between two or more people
Adds detail to story
Reveals info about characters
Shows relationships
Conveys emotional state
Moves story forward

3. The When and the How Don’t just use to move plot forward
Use, but don’t overuse
Keep it brief
Make it realistic
People don’t always speak in perfect standard English
Think words like gonna, kinda, etc.
People exaggerate
People don’t always say what they really feel
Don’t just use to move plot forward

4. Punctuation & Capitalization
Depends on location of dialogue in relation to other text
Example 1: Text before dialogue
Miss Baker said, “Absolutely!”

5. Punctuation & Capitalization
Example 2: Text after the dialogue
“Don’t look at me,” Daisy retorted.
“Gatsby?” demanded Daisy.
“I told that boy about the ice.” Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair.

6. Punctuation & Capitalization
Example 3: Text between parts of the dialogue
“To be continued,” she said, tossing the magazine on the table, “in our very next issue.”
“Good night,” she said softly. “Wake me at eight, won’t you?”

7. But… I don’t remember exactly what was said. No one said anything.
Take some creative license
Make it believable
No one said anything.
Write your thoughts like dialogue
Write what you should have said
Example: I should have said, “No,” but instead, I stayed silent.

8. Writing thoughts like dialogue
Similar rules to spoken dialogue
That’s odd, I thought, nudging the door open. I swear I turned the lights off.
I thought, That’s odd, as I nudged the door open.

9. Dialogue Tags The nouns and verbs after dialogue Use some variety
“Don’t look at me,” Daisy retorted.
“Gatsby?” demanded Daisy.
“Good night,” she said softly. “Wake me at eight, won’t you?”
Use adverbs sparingly
Opt for stronger verbs instead

10. Dialogue Tags Mix in some actions
“To be continued,” she said, tossing the magazine on the table, “in our very next issue.”

11. Dialogue Tags Acknowledged Admitted Agreed Answered Argued Asked
Barked
Begged
Bellowed
Blustered
Bragged
Complained
Confessed
Cried
Demanded
Denied
Giggled
Hinted
Hissed
Howled
Inquired
Interrupted
Laughed
Lied
Mumbled
Muttered
Nagged
Pleaded
Promised
Questioned
Remembered
Replied
Requested
Retorted
Roared
Sang
Screamed
Screeched
Shouted
Sighed
Snarled
Sobbed
Threatened
Wailed
Warned
Whimpered
Whined
Whispered

12. Common Mistakes Using too much dialogue
Being too true to the way people speak (adding um, etc.)
Sounding too stilted (unnatural)
Using people’s names too often in conversation
Losing track of who said what
Unclear pronoun references
Conversations where characters tell each other what they already know
Don’t have characters talk about things they wouldn’t normally discuss
Long, boring speeches to provide information to the reader
All characters sound alike
Overusing synonyms for the word “said”