2.3 Dialogue and Character Voice

Dialogue and character voice are essential for bringing your story to life. They reveal personality, advance the plot, and make characters feel real. Getting it right means balancing authenticity with readability.

Creating unique voices for each character is key. Use word choice, speech patterns, and subtext to differentiate them. Remember, what's left unsaid can be just as powerful as what's spoken aloud.

Authentic Dialogue for Unique Voices

Crafting Natural, Conversational Dialogue

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• Dialogue should sound natural and conversational, as if the characters are real people speaking to each other
  • Avoid stilted, formal language unless it specifically fits the character
• Authentic dialogue includes imperfections that add realism
  • Incomplete sentences
  • Interruptions
  • Pauses
  • Filler words (um, uh, like)
• Effective dialogue balances the character's voice with clarity and readability for the audience
  • Overly phonetic spellings or excessive slang can be difficult to understand

Differentiating Characters Through Dialogue

• Each character's dialogue should be distinct, reflecting their unique traits
  • Personality
  • Background
  • Education level
  • Emotional state
• Vary elements of speech to differentiate characters
  • Word choice
  • Sentence structure
  • Speech patterns (accent, dialect, catchphrases)
• Dialogue should serve a purpose in the story
  • Revealing character
  • Advancing the plot
  • Setting the tone
  • Avoid superfluous or redundant dialogue

Dialogue to Reveal Character

Exposing Motivations, Desires and Fears

• Dialogue is an effective tool for revealing a character's inner world without explicitly stating it
  • Desires
  • Fears
  • Goals
• What characters say and how they say it provides insight into their motivations
  • Word choice can hint at hidden agendas or true feelings
  • Hesitation or evasiveness may indicate inner conflict
• A character's internal conflict or self-doubt can be exposed through dialogue
  • Conversations with others
  • Self-talk or internal monologue

Illuminating Relationships and Backstory

• The way characters speak to each other reveals the nature of their relationships
  • Power dynamics (boss/employee, parent/child)
  • Level of familiarity (strangers, friends, lovers)
  • Emotional closeness or distance
• Dialogue can show how relationships evolve over the course of the story
  • Increasing intimacy or growing apart
  • Shifts in power or status
• Dialogue can provide important backstory or context about a character's past experiences
  • Weave in naturally without excessive exposition
  • Reveal through conversations with other characters
  • Flashbacks or anecdotes shared in dialogue

Showing Conflict and Tension

• Conflict and tension between characters can be shown through hostile, sarcastic, or passive-aggressive dialogue
  • Insults or put-downs
  • Backhanded compliments
  • Defensive or accusatory statements
• The subtext of what is left unsaid can be as important as the words spoken
  • Loaded silences
  • Deliberate avoidance of sensitive topics
  • Changing the subject abruptly

Subtext and Implication in Dialogue

Layering Meaning with Subtext

• Subtext is the underlying meaning or emotion behind the words spoken
  • May be different from the literal meaning
  • Requires the audience to interpret
• Effective dialogue often has a layer of subtext that adds depth and nuance
  • Characters may say one thing but mean another
  • Facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language can contradict spoken words
• Contradictions between a character's words and actions can show that their dialogue is masking their true intentions
  • Saying "I'm fine" while clearly upset
  • Claiming to agree while acting in opposition

Hinting at the Unspoken

• Characters may use implication or innuendo to hint at their true thoughts or feelings without stating them directly
  • Double entendres or veiled references
  • Inside jokes or shared secrets
  • Euphemisms or coded language
• What a character chooses not to say can be as revealing as what they do say
  • Conspicuous silence on certain topics
  • Evasive responses or subject changes
  • Refusal to engage or answer questions
• Subtext is especially important in stories with unreliable narrators or characters who are lying
  • Audience must read between the lines to uncover the truth
  • Inconsistencies or contradictions in dialogue can provide clues

Natural Speech Patterns for Believability

Capturing Authentic Rhythms and Cadences

• Pay attention to how people speak in real life
  • Variations in diction, syntax, and cadence based on age, social class, ethnicity, region
  • Incorporate these speech patterns to create believable character voices
• Read dialogue aloud to check for awkward phrasing or unnatural rhythms
  • Smooth, flowing speech patterns sound more authentic
  • Choppy or convoluted sentences feel artificial
• Vary the length and complexity of characters' sentences and speeches
  • Few people speak in perfectly crafted, grammatical sentences at all times
  • Use fragments, run-ons, and interruptions for realism

Incorporating Casual Speech Markers

• Use contractions, colloquialisms, and other casual speech markers to indicate a more relaxed or informal tone
  • When appropriate for the character and setting
  • "Gonna" instead of "going to"
  • "Wanna" instead of "want to"
  • Region-specific slang or idioms
• Listening to how people tell stories or recount events can provide models for realistic dialogue flow
  • Tangents that meander off-topic
  • Backtracking to fill in forgotten details
  • Self-interruption or self-correction
  • Verbal tics or habitual phrases