Dialogue is one of the hardest things to get right in fiction. 

If your characters are speaking to each other, what they’re saying is important to the plot, right? One of your characters has been hiding information they’re now being forced to share. Your hero and villain are finally having their ultimate knock-down, drag-out fight. Your two love interests are finally sharing their feelings with one another. 

While one writer may be working hard to make their fantasy world heroes nuanced and complicated, another is making even the wildest thriller plots make sense, and another is carefully sketching out the floor plan of their haunted house so the reader can follow the ghost as it stalks the homeowners. Despite these variations, natural dialogue is a common goal. 

But think about the way regular people speak. Does it always make sense? Or do normal people stumble over words and struggle sometimes to get to the point? 

Realism Isn’t Everything

If you’ve ever read a transcript of a podcast, you know that natural dialogue can be meandering and frustrating to parse. If the podcast transcript you’re reading is one of your favorite shows, it’s probably because you enjoy the hosts as people and listening to them chat feels like spending time with friends. Even so, you can imagine how reading that kind of conversation would get old if it were as long as a novel. And depending on the kind of podcast it is, the hosts might actually write out some of their talking points so they can relay information in a way that their listeners can process and remember. 

Real people use lots of filler words, like “um,” as they speak. They also might stop and restart the same sentence. They interrupt each other. If they know each other well, they might not have to fully finish their sentences. None of that is helpful or enjoyable for your readers, though. 

When writing out dialogue, remember that your primary objective is to make sure your reader is getting the information they need. If you give your characters the ability to speak in complete sentences and have linear conversations, your readers will be happy to forgive a slight bend of reality. 

People Aren’t Robots

When streamlining spoken dialogue for reader understanding, it is possible to overcorrect and make your characters sound too unrealistic.

If you’ve ever seen a sci-fi movie or TV show that features robot characters, like a sentient computer or an android, you’ll notice how stilted and off-putting it sounds for a human voice to speak in perfect sentences with pristine grammar. Usually sci-fi writers lean into this clinical mode of speaking to accentuate how different the robot character is from human characters. If the story is about how a computer wants to become more like their human friends, you’ll usually see them speaking more casually as the story progresses to indicate character development. 

If you aren’t writing an AI character, perfect grammar and long sentences will make your characters sound too formal. You can start with your first draft by writing clear, clinical speeches that get across the information you need to communicate. But during the editing phase, maybe sprinkle in one or two filler words, some sentences that trail off, or a little bit of stuttering where a character might be especially emotional. 

Go Back to Character

If you’re stuck on how to add life back into your informational dialogue draft, just think about your characters. Teenagers use a lot of slang and filler words, while older, highly educated people might put less emotion into their words. The vast majority of average people do not use “who” and “whom” correctly when they speak, so if you have a character who does, they’ll really stand out. Even better? Write a character who uses “whom” incorrectly, and your reader will immediately clock a self-important, pretentious person who’s secretly not nearly as smart as they think they are. 

Furthermore, you should think about how your characters will change the way they speak depending on the context. A kid will use different words when talking to their parents, their teachers, and their friends. If your romantic hero feels nervous around their love interest, they may suddenly stumble over their words, or they may overcorrect and speak very carefully and formally to make sure they don’t put their foot in their mouth. 

Remember—the way your characters speak can convey just as much information, if not more, than what they’re actually saying. 

What’s Your Goal?

So make your dialogue clear instead of perfectly realistic but also don’t make them sound like robots. You need to make sure they’re communicating clearly, unless they’re in a situation where they wouldn't be communicating clearly. How is that helpful advice?

The truth is that dialogue is hard to get right. As with everything else in the writing process, drafting and editing are your friends, and so is feedback from readers. Think about everything you want to balance, try it out a few different ways, and eventually you’ll be able to find what works. 

Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog. When not writing or reading, she is a fiber and textile artist who sews, knits, crochets, weaves, and spins.