Few elements have a bigger impact on storytelling than dialogue. It’s the story’s bloodline: when it’s great, it’ll keep the pace, balance the story flow and help the characters leap off the page. When it’s bad, though, it’ll jar the reading and portray the characters as unrealistic and two-dimensional.

Dialogue can break or make your story, so polishing it will make a big difference. To understand its importance, let’s look at how dialogue affects the story on different levels. Well-crafted dialogue can improve the story on several levels.

1) It brings your characters to life
The way we talk is shaped by many factors, from our personality, gender and age to our class, where we live and where we came from. A teenager uses different vocabulary than a middle-aged person. Consider what your characters are like. Are they confident and do they share their thoughts as statements, or are they so insecure that they apologise for their opinions before they share them? Do they uptalk or use phrases that undermine theur authority?

Wave their characteristics into their speech, so it’s distinctive from other characters in the story. For example, some people like to add a phrase like ‘Don’t you think so’ to the end of each sentence. Others might have a pet word they like to use. Some characters keep on interrupting others or talk over them, while others wait to be asked for their opinion.
A good test to check whether you’ve done a good job is to remove the dialogue tags. Even without “she/he said”, it should still be possible to discern who is talking.

2) It puts emotion on the page
Show, don’t tell is particularly tricky when it comes to emotions. You want to tell the reader that your character is upset, but saying that Henrietta was angry with John doesn’t quite do the job. If, on the other hand, you show Henrietta furiously chopping vegetables with pressed lips, while John is trying to engage with her to find out what’s wrong, the reader will feel it.

For example:
‘What’s wrong?’ John asked.
Henrietta put the carrots onto the chopping board and took the knife. ‘Nothing is wrong.’
John paused, observing his wife’s hands moving furiously over the board.
‘Are you sure?’
Henrietta didn’t meet his gaze. She pressed her lips and threw the carrots into a pan.
‘If you’re upset about the weekend, I really tried to take it off, but the project—’
She turned then, propping her hands against her waist. ’I told you, I’m not upset!’

In dialogue, what we say is as important as how we say it and what we omit. Silences and body language are powerful tools that inform the meaning of what’s being said. If a character pauses before answering, they might be unsure about something or holding something back. If a character fiddles with their hands when they talk, they’re likely nervous or excited. To find out more about how to use body language efficiently, check out The Emotion Thesaurus .

3) It conveys information and strengthens narrative drive
Dialogue is a great way to pass on information without making it obvious. For example:
‘Have you heard about Patricia?’
‘Heard what?’
‘That she got married?’
‘What? No, impossible. Not my Patricia.’
‘Yes, possible.’
‘How could she get married? She hardly goes to town.’
‘Well, get this. Three weeks ago she met some Italian, a tourist guide or something who came to visit the farm, lost her head, packed up and followed him to Verona.’
‘Waaaait a minute. She left the farm? That place is her life.’
‘Sold it, apparently.’
‘She did not. And the sheep? Don’t tell me she sold them, too?’

When information is passed through an exchange, it will engage the reader, giving them just enough to want to keep reading. This piece of magic is called narrative drive and is one of the main reasons readers keep turning the pages, but narrative drive is not just about giving information. It’s about giving the right amount of information at the right time. If you stuff the dialogue with too much information, it will become an info dump and harm the flow of the story. If you, however, feed just enough to make the reader ask questions, they’ll keep on reading to find out the answers. You can find out more about narrative drive here.

4) It shows the relationship between characters
We speak differently to a close friend or a family member than we do to our colleagues, bosses or strangers. Old friends have expressions that remind them of their shared past and colleagues will use jargon that their friends or spouses won’t necessarily understand. When two people don’t like each other, their sentences might be more abrupt and scarce with information. Take, for example, the common phrase ‘How are you?’ The answer will pretty much depend on who’s asking. Consider your answer, if the person asking the question was:

• your partner/spouse
• a sales person
• your line manager
• your client
• a doctor.

The same goes for your characters: their response will reflect whom they’re talking to and the nature of their relationship. Close friends might appear less close when they’re arguing or holding grudges. Family members might get away with saying the most outrageous things to each other. Sometimes, it’s easier to confess something personal to a complete stranger than it is to someone who knows you very well.

There’s a great deal more to say about dialogue, so keep an eye on the future blog posts or subscribe to my monthly mailing to get the new blog posts into your inbox.