How do you make your dialogue better?

[aimless]

I wanna improve my dialogue, it just feels like two NPCs talking to each other but I don’t know how to do it

 

[SailusGebel]

Writing - [Tutorial] The Secret to Proper Paragraphing and Dialogue

Want to Know the Biggest Secret in the Fiction Writing Industry? It's not the Plotting they use, the Characters, the Theme, the Settings, or anything else like that. It's the Sentence Structure. DISCLAIMER: This is how I was taught to structure dialogue for publication purposes -- by my...

forum.scribblehub.com

 

[Agentt]

Put in some humane things. People hesitateing, saying things like umm, ehhh, ugh, tch. Don't write a wall of dialogue, interrupt it now and then to say things like, he said spreading his arms, or anything like that.

 

[TopicalWriter]

I try to think about the characters and how they act/who they are and then just write how someone with that personality type would speak.
If you're worried its not coming out well you can always ask someone and they can tell you whether its stilted.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I make the characters as human as possible and make them say things that any normal person would. That, and never try to force any dialogue to happen.

 

[Gryphon]

I could say make them talk like people would, but thats void advice. Not just because if you knew how to do that, you wouldn't be here, but also because you don't really want characters to talk like people would. The way people talk would just sound boring reading it on the story. I'd need to read your dialogue to know your issue, so can you give me an example from your story, or link your story so I can skim through it?

 

[Mephi]

Read more books. Like, actual dead tree novels you get from the library. Pay attention to how they have people interact.

I find it's easiest to improve through imitation before you develop your own style

 

[aimless]

I could say make them talk like people would, but thats void advice. Not just because if you knew how to do that, you wouldn't be here, but also because you don't really want characters to talk like people would. The way people talk would just sound boring reading it on the story. I'd need to read your dialogue to know your issue, so can you give me an example from your story, or link your story so I can skim through it?

The one in my signature isn’t really a good example, I’ll dm you an excerpt

 

[lambenttyto]

I wanna improve my dialogue, it just feels like two NPCs talking to each other but I don’t know how to do it

It's because you're trying to write "dialogue."

You need to put some emotion into the characters. Write with abandon and find their voices. But don't try, act like you've just been thrust out onto a play stage and now you're improve acting in front of a big audience. Let some personality out. Also, sometimes I lean back on characters from movies or anime. You can mix certain characters together so its not obvious, then fuse them into your character's personality.

 

[Bartun]

I don't know because I'm a dinosaur, but I've heard humies in fiction talk about not only plot-related stuff but also mundane stuff, they make casual chitchat just to get a reaction out of others, and they also tease. They show emotions, even if they are the overly-serious type. Do you want it to be realistic? Make them share a meal and have a casual talk over it!