Authors: 10 ways to make your character dialog exciting!

Licensed from MotionArray

Characterization is everything in your novel. One of the surest reasons a reader will put your book down is if your characters are flat, stereotypes or predictable. Here are ten ways to make your characters come to life in dialog.

1. Advance the story. Cut to the chase

Avoid the pleasantries, comments on the weather, idle chitchat and meaningless dialog that we all do in actual life. It’s a simple mistake to put these into your dialog because it seems realistic, but readers want to escape from the actual world, so skip this stuff. There is nothing worse than twenty lines of conversation on a page where the characters do nothing more than idle chat. Advance the plot. Cut to the chase. Omit the boring and stick to the interesting.

2. Show don’t tell

You hear this advice all the time. With dialog, it means avoid almost all dialog tags. Never say “he said angrily,” or even “he shouted.” Show it. Maybe he slams his glass on the table, or blows out a breath, or just uses short words. Experiment with only using said, asked or replied, and show all emotion through word choice or action.

3. Interruptions

Interesting conversation is never one person saying something, then the other…