Hi everyone! So i'm having a bit of a problem with writing dialogue: it seems so bland! Whenever I try to write my characters interacting it all sounds so boring and repetitive, even conversations moving along the plot or the characters relationships just doesn't quite hit. I'm not sure if I'm thinking too much about it (could definitely be possible), or maybe it's the pacing that's the problem? I'm not sure haha, but it just seems off to me. Does anyone have tips to spice up dialogue or to help me in anyway?
Here's a quick excerpt of dialogue from my story so you can get an idea of what I mean-
After a moment, she took a deep breath in to subside her laughs. She looked at him, still grinning. “Alright, what are they actually for?”
“I just told you.” Stated Calix, his blank expression still unchanging.
Melody was sure he was joking, he had to be; there's no way that those were real. That would be going against everything Melody had known about science and physics. If that kind of technology was real, it would be public knowledge, wouldn’t it?
Calix stared at her. “You think i’m crazy, don’t you.” He stated in a mocking tone. Melody was a bit surprised by this sudden claim.
“What? No, no. I never said that.” She shook her head, why would she think he’s crazy? Sure, this portal stuff is a little far fetched but it's not something to get this worked up about.
Calix turned back towards his machine and sat on his chair. “Whatever,” he mumbled, picking up a tool to mess with the wires hanging out of the front of the box. “You’re just like everybody else.”
Again, maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking lol, but if you have any tips anyways, let me know! Thanks!
There’s a lot of good advice on this in the book Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, if you’d like to check that out!
What really helps me is before I start writing dialogue, I write down what the purpose of the conversation is, and what everyone's goals are, that way the dialogue remains focused. If it's longer, I write it out like a play would: names, colon, then the dialogue. Once I tweak the actual dialogue to my liking, I add in descriptions and actual proper sentence structure later.
Also, don't feel like you have to describe everything in a conversation. There can be moments like this:
"I don't think you should go," said A, (descriptive narrative stuff after)
"And why not?" (more description)
"It could be dangerous."
"I know. That's why I'm going."
"You're an idiot."
As long as you make sure to establish who's talking, and that each character has a unique voice, you can have moments like that. It makes the conversation feel more like natural banter between two people, but it really only works with two people. Any more than that, and it gets confusing. Happy writing!
Ah ok, i'll check out that book!
Thank you both for the advice!
Ah, lovely, it went for a thread that I’m following! Terrible choice, bot.
@andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)
I also feel like I am bad with dialogue. Like, I can imagine a conversation as a natural thing if I think about it like a scene in a show, but if I try to write it down as writing, it flops or just feels weird.
one of my fics has dialogue like it's a visual novel ie;
Character A [emote]: Um, despair?
Monokuma [gleeful]: DID SOMBODY SAY DESPIAR!?? [Luaghing] Upupupupupupu…. that's my favorite season!
Character A [Take that!]: Aha! You fell into my trap! [becomes a ball of HOPE]
Monokuma [Panic]: No! My only weakness! Chapter 6! [gets sent to brazil, because that's funny]
there was a point to that, but I forgot
