22 | The Writer • November 2019
1
KEEP IT REAL...
The first step in creating authentic
language is to acknowledge that
real people often speak in frag-
ments. They use the wrong words.
They talk over each other. They’re
asked a question and don’t answer it.
Real-world dialogue can be messy.
So, too, can story dialogue.2
...BUT DON’T MAKE IT BORING
“The two main problems with
dialogue are making it sound real
and keeping it interesting. These
two are related, though sometimes
opposed, problems,” novelist David
Galef explains. “One solution is to take
authentic exchanges and tweak them.”
Add metaphor or other figurative
expressions or just lively language, he
suggests, keeping it within the realm of
what they could have said.
For example, consider how, under
pressure from his wife to throw out a
drunk from their restaurant, Biff from
Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a
Lonely Hunter doesn’t say “Why don’t
you do it?” Instead, he says “Wake up
and go down yourself. Call the cop and
let him get soused on the chain gang
with cornbread and peas.”
And here’s another real-world exam-
ple of how this works. In Daisy Jones
and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – a
book told entirely in dialogue – Daisy
compares her voice to another singer’s
by saying “I sounded like the cool new
pair of jeans and Billy sounded like the
pair you had for years.”3
AVOID SMALL TALK
In an effort to make story dia-
logue seem/feel/look real, some
authors include all the fluffy-
nothings we say to each other to fill the
awkward silences. It may happen in
real life, but small talk waters down the
power of a scene. Worse, it subtly sig-Y
ears ago, a professor told me
that there were two types of
writers: those who could write
dialogue, and those who couldn’t.
Kind of a reductive, jerky thing to
say to an aspiring writer, but over the
years, I discovered that it had a kernel
of truth to it. Some writers DID create
dialogue that sizzled on the page. Oth-
ers settled for pedestrian, functional-
but-not-WOW dialogue.
So, how does a writer join the ranks
of that first group – those who make
dialogue matter?
The answer: Observe what tal-
ented writers of dialogue do, and
then follow suit. To that end, here are
some of their most useful tips, tricks,
and ideas.HE SAID,
SHE SAID
Eight
ways to
make
dialogue
matter.By
Ryan G.
Van Cleavelumyai l sweet/Shutterstock