{"id":93,"date":"2020-11-10T14:50:35","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T14:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?p=93"},"modified":"2025-05-09T14:59:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:59:03","slug":"writing-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/writing-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Dialogue In Fiction: 7 Easy Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speech gives life to stories. It breaks up long pages of action and description, it gives us an insight into a character, and it moves the action along. But how do you write effective dialogue that will add depth to your story and not take the reader away from the action?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article I will be guiding you through seven simple steps for keeping your fictional chat fresh, relevant and tight. As well as discussing dialogue tags and showing you dialogue examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to talk…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Easy Steps For Compelling Dialogue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting speech right is an art but, fortunately, there are a few easy rules to follow. Those rules will make writing dialogue easy \u2013 turning it from something static, heavy and un-lifelike into something that shines off the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better still, dialogue should be fun to write, so don\u2019t worry if we talk about \u2018rules\u2019. We\u2019re not here to kill the fun. We\u2019re here to increase it. So let\u2019s look at some of these rules along with dialogue examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReady?\u201d she asked.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou bet. Let\u2019s dive right in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Write Dialogue In 7 Simple Steps:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Keep it tight and avoid unnecessary words<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Hitting beats and driving momentum<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Keep it oblique, where characters never quite answer each other directly<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Reveal character dynamics and emotion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Keep your dialogue tags simple<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Get the punctuation right<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Be careful with accents<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\r\n