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Unit 4: Dialogue Writing

l By italicizing the text. She thought about her husband, her to-be-born child, and how happy her notes
husband would be when their child is born.

Dialogue as character
One of the main tasks of a writer is to create or use interesting characters, ones that make an
instant connection with the readers. Writing effective dialogue is one way for the writer to create
interesting characters. An effective dialogue reveals something about the character, creates
conflict, or advances the story. An effective dialogue also requires that each character’s speech is
identifiable. The dialogue should allow the reader to make a distinction between each character
in the story. To develop interesting dialogue for each character, the writer can use:
l Different diction or word choice for each character
l Different syntax to represent speaking pattern

l Profanity or slang
l Colloquial expressions in the dialogue
l Idiomatic phrases in the dialogue
l Dialect (however, only expert writers should use this.)
The writer can also identify each character or speaker by using:
l Dialogue tags, such as “she said” or “he said.”

l Quotations marks for each speaker (“”).
l Separate line or paragraph for a new or different speaker.

Example: Argument between the two friends:
“I want to end our friendship,” Ram said, from the stairway.
“Why?” Shyam said, banging the hall door.
“Because I can’t trust you anymore,” Ram shouted.

“Why? What have I done,” Shyam screamed.
4.1.3 Process of Writing Dialogues

Effective dialogue is not an exact reproduction of real-life speech but rather a reduced form that
cuts out unnecessary words while retaining the flavor of authentic and natural speech. Good
dialogue emulates the natural pace of everyday speech, it contains nuances, overtones and
original turns of phrase that brings out the individual personalities of characters.
A simple, though not rigid, process can be followed while writing dialogues:
1. Build the story/plot
2. Build the characters/ introduce the characters in the story
3. Reveal character or motives

4. Individualise speakers
5. Communicate important information
6. Highlight crucial moments or build suspense
7. Move the action forward

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