Dialogue do's and don't's by Poppy Gee

Do you have any tips for making dialogue more realistic? And for making it pop?

I'm not sure dialogue-writing can be taught. I think writers have an ear for it, or they don't. But here are some tips I have learned from my own writing, from editing manuscripts for others, and from teaching creative writing. 

1. Eavesdrop. Listen. Write down interesting things people say. Especially people who have interesting, specific backgrounds. Sailors, farmers, doctors, artists, soldiers, for example, sometimes use language that is specific to their profession. Unique turns of phrase can make the dialogue colourful and memorable.

2. Start the scene late, end the scene early. This is advice for any scene, but especially important for dialogue. The reader doesn't need to hear people say 'hi, how are you, goodbye, catch you next time.'

3. Avoid phone conversations. I see this when I'm editing my students' work. Emerging writers will put potentially interesting conversations into a phone conversation. It's really boring, and a missed opportunity. Have your characters meet up in real life, it's a much more visual scene.

4. Don't info dump. No speeches. No characters relaying info that is being conveyed for the reader's sake. 

5. Use contractions to make it sound natural: I wasn't instead of I was not etc. 

6. Use said, or asked, rather than more creative words (bellowed, snivelled, squawked) which can suck oxygen from the writing. This is a fashion, in bygone eras writing was more flowery. Maybe it will change back one day. I've also heard writers say that you should be able to tell who is speaking by the sound of the dialogue; their point is that you don't need speech tags. I disagree a little bit. It's a courtesy to the reader, to make sure that it's easy for them to know who is speaking. So throw in a 'he said, she said' when it's helpful. 

7. Show don't tell. Instead of your character saying, 'I feel sick', have them coughing until their eyes water, throwing up under a tree, wearing a Covid mask, or losing a lot of blood.

8. Anytime the character is breathing, thinking about breathing, holding their breath, exhaling - hit delete. There are plenty of reader forums online where readers discuss how annoying it is to hear characters being hyper aware of their breath rhythms. When was the last time any of us was 'waiting to exhale?'!

9. Read your dialogue out loud.

10. Read. Some of my favourite crime writers for dialogue include Tana French, Allie Reynolds, Chester Himes, Angie Faye Martin, and (it's a cliche, sorry) Cormac McCarthy.