Dialogue is the heartbeat of a novel. It is the fastest way to show who a character is without relying on long blocks of description. If your dialogue feels stiff or "written," your readers will put the book down.
Here are ten ways to sharpen your dialogue and make your characters sound like real people.
1. Read Your Dialogue Aloud This is the most effective way to find "clunky" writing. If you find yourself tripping over a sentence or running out of breath, your readers will too. Reading aloud helps you identify awkward phrasing that looks okay on paper but sounds unnatural in a conversation.
2. Lean on Contractions Real people rarely say "I do not know" or "We are going to the store." They say "I don't know" and "We're going." Using contractions makes your dialogue feel conversational and authentic rather than formal and robotic.
3. Apply the "Mutant Gene" to Clichés Clichés are the death of originality. Instead of using a common phrase, look for a "lateral" way to express the same feeling. If a character is angry, don't just have them yell; have them say something unexpected that only someone with their specific background would say.
4. Use a Dialogue Checker It is hard to keep track of every character's unique voice across a 90,000-word manuscript. This is where technology helps. I recommend using the dialogue reports in ProWritingAid to scan for repetitive sentence structures or "glue words" that slow down your pacing. It helps ensure your characters don't all sound like the same person.
5. Keep It Short In real life, people rarely give long-winded speeches unless they are politicians or villains. Keep your dialogue concise. If a character needs to say something long, break it up with "beats"—actions like pouring a drink or looking out a window—to keep the scene moving.
6. Master the Art of Subtext Characters should rarely say exactly what they are thinking. If two people are arguing about a burnt dinner, they are usually actually arguing about their failing marriage. Allowing the reader to infer the "hidden" meaning beneath the surface creates much more tension than being direct.
7. Show, Don't Tell Instead of having a character say "I am very sad," show their sadness through how they speak. Maybe they stop using contractions, or they start giving one-word answers. Use the dialogue to reveal the emotion rather than labeling it.
8. Brainstorm Better Hooks If a conversation feels boring, it is usually because the "spark" is missing. When I hit a wall with a scene, I use Sudowrite to brainstorm five different ways a character might react to a prompt. You don't have to use the AI's words, but it often gives you a "lateral injection" of an idea you never would have thought of on your own.
9. Eavesdrop on Reality Go to a coffee shop and just listen. Pay attention to how people interrupt each other, how they leave sentences unfinished, and how often they talk over one another. These "messy" real-world habits are what make fictional dialogue feel alive.
10. Let the Dialogue Evolve Your characters are not the same people on page 200 as they were on page 1. As your story progresses and the stakes get higher, the way your characters speak should reflect that change. If a character was shy at the start, they should speak with more authority by the finale.
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