How to Write Realistic Dialogues in a Novel

For a reader, a big part of the appeal of reading a novel are the dialogues.

It's the way the characters in the story interact with each other that keeps a reader captivated throughout the book. Sure, the plot matters too.      

But it’s the dialogues said by the characters that remain in the hearts and minds of the readers long after they finish reading a novel.

So, how to write good dialogues in a novel? The best thing you can do while writing dialogues is make them realistic.

Given below are realistic dialogue tips that would help you in writing your own bestseller.

1. Establish the verbiage the characters use.

Before starting to write the dialogues uttered by a character, you need to consider certain elements of the character.

Those elements include the character’s age, knowledge, education, location, and if the story demands it, familial background.

The dialogues also need to be in-sync with the time and space that the story is based in.

For example, a teenage character living in New York City in the year 2026 will talk very differently than an elderly character living in a small town in Montana in the 1800s.

2. Consider the emotional context of the dialogues being said.

Have you been wondering, how to write more compelling dialogue in fiction? Then this tip is very important for you.

While writing dialogues, the current emotional state of the character needs to be taken into consideration.

When a character is angry, she will speak a bit differently than she usually does.

When she’s extremely happy about something, her happiness will be reflected in her words (the dialogues).

Different emotions such as love, anger, excitement, happiness and sadness need to be conveyed through the dialogues.

Also, take into account the events that lead up to the next chapter. And if the style of writing the dialogues for a particular character needs to stay the same or change.

For example, if a character is excited about something in one chapter, they might be excited about the same thing in the next chapter as well.

Or did something happen to kill their excitement and dampen their mood?

Then the way this character speaks in the next chapter would be a bit different from the previous one.

3. Use direct and indirect dialogues appropriately.

Dialogue writing techniques are of two types— direct dialogues and indirect dialogues.

Direct dialogues are the ones that take place between two or more people. These types of dialogues have a ‘call’ and a ‘response’.

It is where a character says a sentence, then the other character(s) says one or more sentences in response.

For example- Michelle asked, “do you have the keys?”

In indirect dialogues, the narrator basically paraphrases what another character had said without using their exact words.

For example- Michelle asked if I had the keys.

Direct dialogues are very useful in creating tension and ultimately, resolution in a novel.

It is also useful in getting the readers hooked to the story you are telling.

Indirect dialogues are useful in describing an event that is not entirely vital to the story but still, needs to be said to make a particular scene make sense.

4. Exchange information between the characters.

While learning to write dialogues for a novel, an important question to ask is how to write dialogue between two characters?

An important point to remember is that dialogues serve the purpose of exchanging information between characters; not directly to the readers.

These dialogues help in moving the story forward.

You need to keep in mind that the characters need to express their thoughts and reveal details that are relevant to the interactions they are having with another character.

Try to avoid details that are redundant or completely unnecessary.

It will only create confusion in the readers if you put extra information that is just not required in the specific scene being written.  

Here are some good dialogue examples-

Context: Two siblings are discussing their estranged, wealthy father.

The Unrealistic Way: “Ever since Mom died five years ago and left us her vintage car, Dad hasn't spoken a single word to either of us”.  

The Realistic Way: “Five years, Sarah. Five years, and the only time he opens his mouth is to have his lawyer ask about the keys to that damn Mustang”.

5. Avoid information dumping.

One of the best tips for writing dialogues you will ever receive is to avoid information dumping.  

Quite often, when an author is at the beginner level, they tend to drop large amounts of information in a chapter at the same time.

This is known as information dumping. It breaks the flow of the story, which is not a good thing if you want people to read the whole book.

And in most cases, the readers end up losing interest in the story.

More often than not, all the information does not need to be put in the same chapter; especially at the beginning of the book.    

When you reveal the details of a story, you need to do it in a way that feels natural and interesting.

It is best to unravel the details (or information) of the story through your characters.

Let them “discover” and convey the information to the readers through their dialogues.

If it feels too expository to reveal all the info through dialogues, have your characters do it through their actions.

6. Enhance a conversation with details.

If you are starting your writing journey with short stories rather than a novel, then you might be wondering, how to write dialogues in a short story?      

A short story limits the number of words within which you need to tell everything that needs to be said in the story.  

Hence, it is advisable that you give out details through the dialogues.

Also, the details themselves do not even have to be in the dialogues. They can be in the descriptions that follow the dialogues.

For example, when you write, “Yes, I was there”, she said biting her fingernails, you portray a character who was nervous because she has something to hide.

Plus, when you write a long dialogue without any description accompanying that dialogue, it has the tendency to bore the readers.

When you add descriptions to the dialogues, it enriches the narrative and provides context.

Descriptions also help the readers to have a better understanding of the characters, their emotions, motivations and the environments where the scenes are taking place.

7. Give the dialogues a purpose.

When it comes to writing tips, this one often features in lists of top 10 tips for writing dialogues.

Give the dialogues you write for your characters a purpose!

Keep in mind that the dialogues need to work towards the unraveling of the story.

Each conversation between two or more characters should reveal something about the characters themselves or the plot of the book.

If a particular dialogue seems irrelevant or unnecessary to the reader, she may skip over those dialogues.

And that is not something you want as an author.

8. Keep the use of technical language to a minimum.

Have you been thinking, how to write realistic dialogues?

An important point to remember while trying to write realistic dialogues is to keep the use of technical language to a minimum.

As a general rule, every character in your novel should have their own way of talking. They’ll have certain words that only they use.

This helps in identifying the character once their initial introduction has been made. It also helps in making the character believable.

However, remember that not all readers might be familiar with certain industry (legal, medical, investment banking, computer coding or weaponry) jargons.

So, don’t get carried away while using them in your book.

Using too many shorthands or technical words in your dialogues would only confuse the readers. And that is not a good thing.

If you need to explain a technical incident in the book, try to do it in the simplest of terms.    

9. Fix specific plot goals for a scene.

An essential aspect you need to take care of for writing effective fiction dialogues is the specific plot goals of a particular scene or chapter.

If needed, write them down as bullet points before you start writing the dialogues so that you don’t miss any vital detail that needs to be mentioned in that chapter or scene.

For example, are you trying to portray the aftermath of a bad breakup; convey some information that is vital for moving the story forward; or making the character recover after a bad fall?

Before writing, think about the best way to unfurl the information as well as the emotions being felt by the characters at this point of the story.

10. Read the dialogues out loud.

One of the best ways to figure out if the dialogues you have written sound realistic or not is to read them out loud.    

Read them multiple times. Edit them if it does not sound the way you want them to.

Make sure that the dialogues you have written align perfectly with the characters’ specific diction and “behaviour”.

Ask yourself the question, is this how they should speak? Is this how they would speak when they are angry or happy?

Would they say these specific words at this very moment in time (of the story)?

11. Study real people in the real world.

While writing dialogues for your characters, you want to make them sound as authentic as you can.

And for that to happen, you’ll need to know your characters inside out. You would need to know (decide) exactly how they speak and also, how they react to things or situations.

In other words, you would need to have a strong foundation for character development.

And for you to create characters whose words sound super-realistic, you would need to go out into the world and study real people.

Go sit on a park bench, take the metro to a station that’s half an hour from your home (and back), browse the snacks aisle at a department store; just put yourself near people, in a place where you can listen to conversations without coming off as being intrusive.

Listen closely and learn how different people talk differently and react differently to different circumstances.

Once you are done, try to use that knowledge while writing dialogues for your novels.

Writing Realistic Dialogues FAQs

How long should a single stretch of dialogue be?

A cardinal creative writing tip is that while writing sentences, don’t make them too long. The same rule is applicable while writing dialogues.

You need to break up long dialogues with tiny descriptions of action. For example- pouring a drink, pacing the room, or with a crooked smile.

Doing this would help the reader to “see” and understand the story a little better. And hence, follow the sequences of the story easily.

If you keep writing dialogues that are too long, the reader might get lost in the dialogues and forget about the picture or scene you are trying to portray in that chapter.

Also, it is best to avoid long monologues as it might start feeling more like a lecture after a while.

When should I use dialogue tags like ‘he shouted’ or ‘she whispered’?

The truth is that most readers skip over ‘said’, ‘asked’ and other similar words that accompany a dialogue. Many people find them distracting.

Skipping those words helps them stay focused on the dialogues going back and forth between the characters of the book.

So, it is advisable to use such descriptive dialogue tags only when the action or tone is not clear from the context.

For example- You don’t need to add ‘he said angrily’ with a dialogue. If the dialogue is well-written, the anger felt by the character would be obvious.  

Should I include “ums”, “uhs” and filler words to make dialogue sound natural?

As an unwritten but understood rule of writing dialogues in a novel, it is best to avoid filler words such as “um”, “uh” and “hmm” etc.      

When a person is reading a novel, filler words can feel like clutter. It slows down the pace of the story and reduces the beauty or effect of the dialogues.

Writing realistic dialogues in a novel involves imitating real-life conversations and giving it your own touch; not replicating it.

However, if you are writing a scene where the character is super-nervous about something, then you can use a few filler words in order to express her nervousness.

You can also use filler words as a part of a character-quirk.  

Is it okay to use slang or heavy accents?

While writing dialogue for novels, you need to approach the subject of using slang words and heavy accents with caution.

Readers can get tired of decoding heavy phonetic dialogues such as “Whatcha doin’ ‘round here”?

So, how can you convey a certain accent or place of origin of a character?

By using the words used by the people of that particular ethnicity or region.

You don’t need to use the exact shortened words that are used by the people that the character is based on.

What is “on-the-nose” dialogue, and how do I fix it?

When you search for how to write dialogue in a story example, you will find the rule of “on-the-nose” dialogue.    

Under this rule, you need to avoid writing “on-the-nose” dialogues as much as you can.

Basically, have your characters talk about a topic in a way that it insinuates the idea you want to convey instead of telling it directly in a dialogue.

For example- do not write “ “I am very angry at you for forgetting our anniversary”.

Instead of making a character say this directly to another character, you can use subtext in order to put forward the idea that the character is angry.

You can also communicate the character’s anger through the actions carried out by that particular character.

How do I make my characters sound different from one another?

In most realistic dialogue examples, you will see that the author pays close attention to the words being said by the characters.

And this includes the dialect being used by the character.

Doing this helps in giving each of the characters a kind of a ‘linguistic fingerprint’ that helps them in establishing their own place in the story.

For example- A teenager from Boston might use different words, sentence-lengths and rhythm of speech than someone who has spent their whole life in rural England.

They can also have their own specific habits, quirky routines they follow, favourite metaphors they use etc.