Dialogue Ideas - Tumblr Posts

Dialogue prompt:

Character A: I would never put bruises on your knees like he does, sweetheart.

Character B, with a confused look on his or her face: I work in a dog kennel, these bruises aren’t for anybody!

Character A stares in disbelief before shuffling off awkwardly.

Thought and inspiration

How to Write Strong Dialogue

(from a writer of ten years)

So you’re back in the writing trenches. You’re staring at your computer, or your phone, or your tablet, or your journal, and trying not to lose your mind. Because what comes after the first quotation mark? Nothing feels good.

Don’t worry, friend. I’m your friendly tumblr writing guide and I’m here to help you climb out of the pit of writing despair.

I’ve created a character specifically for this exercise. His name is Amos Alejandro III, but for now we’ll just call him Amos. He’s a thirty-something construction worker with a cat who hates him, and he’s just found out he has to go on a quest across the world to save his mother’s diner.

1.) Consider the Attitude and Characteristics of Your Character

One of the biggest struggles writers face when writing dialogue is keeping characters’ dialogue “in-character”.

You’re probably thinking, “but Sparrow, I’m the creator! None of the dialogue I write can be out of character because they’re my original characters!”

WRONG. (I’m hitting the very loud ‘incorrect’ buzzer in your head right now).

Yes, you created your characters. But you created them with specific characteristics and attitudes. For example, Amos lives alone, doesn’t enjoy talking too much, and isn’t a very scholarly person. So he’s probably not going to say something like “I suggest that we pursue the path of least resistance for this upcoming quest.” He’d most likely say, “I mean, I think the easiest route is pretty self-explanatory.”

Another example is a six-year-old girl saying, “Hi, Mr. Ice Cream Man, do you have chocolate sundaes?” instead of “Hewwo, Ice Cweam Man— Chocowate Sundaes?”

Please don’t put ‘w’s in the middle of your dialogue unless you have a very good and very specific reason. I will cry.

Yes, the girl is young, but she’s not going to talk like that. Most children know how to ask questions correctly, and the ‘w’ sound, while sometimes found in a young child’s speech, does not need to be written out. Children are human.

So, consider the attitude, characteristics, and age of your character when writing dialogue!

2.) Break Up Dialogue Length

If I’m reading a novel and I see an entire page of dialogue without any breaks, I’m sobbing. You’re not a 17th century author with endless punctuation. You’re in the 21st century and people don’t read in the same way they used to.

Break up your dialogue. Use long sentences. Use one word. Use commas, use paragraph breaks. Show a character throwing a chair out a window in between sentences.

For example:

“So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret receipt card, and bring it back before she goes out of business? She didn’t have any other copies? Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

vs.

Amos ran a hand over his face. “So, you’re telling me the only way to save my Ma’s diner is to travel across five different continents, find the only remaining secret recipe card, and bring it back before she goes out of business?”

He couldn’t believe his luck. That was sarcastic, of course. This was ironically horrible.

“She didn’t have any other copies?” He leaned forward over the table and frowned. “Do I have to leave my cat behind?”

The second version is easier to digest, and I got to add some fun description of thought and action into the scene! Readers get a taste of Amos’ character in the second scene, whereas in the first scene they only got what felt like a million words of dialogue.

3.) Don’t Overuse Dialogue Tags.

DON’T OVERUSE DIALOGUE TAGS. DON’T. DON’T DON’T DON’T.

If you don’t know what a dialogue tag is, it’s a word after a sentence of dialogue that attributes that dialogue to a specific character.

For example:

“Orange juice and chicken ramen are good,” he said.

‘Said’ functions as the dialogue tag in this sentence.

Dialogue tags are good. You don’t want to completely avoid them. (I used to pride myself on how I could write stories without any dialogue tags. Don’t do that.) Readers need to know who’s speaking. But overusing them, or overusing weird or unique tags, should be avoided.

Examples:

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said.

“Why?” Amos growled. “It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve lost the secret recipe card, and I can’t keep the diner open without it!” She cried.

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?” Amos questioned.

“Yes!” Amos’ mother screamed.

“Well, that’s not good,” Amos complained.

vs.

“I’m gonna have to close my diner,” Amos’ mother said, taking her son’s hand and leading him over to one of the old, grease-stained tabletops with the ripped-fabric booths.

Amos simply stared at her, frozen in place. “Why? It’s been in the family forever.”

“I’ve—” she looked away for a moment, then took in a breath. “I’ve lost the secret recipe card. And I can’t keep the diner open without it.”

“The Bacon Burger Extreme recipe card?”

“Yes!” She still wouldn’t meet his eyes, and her shoulders were shaking. “Yes.”

Amos sat down heavily in the booth. “Well, that’s not good.”

The first scene only gives character names and dialogue tags. There are no actions and no descriptions. The second scene, however, gives these things. They give the reader descriptions of the diner, the characters’ actions, and attitudes. Overusing dialogue tags gets boring fast, so add interest into your writing!

So! When you’re writing, consider the attitude of your character, vary dialogue length, and don’t overuse dialogue tags.

Now climb out of the pit of writing despair. Pick up your pen or computer. And write some good dialogue!

Best,

Sparrow

*At World Meeting*

Malaysia Barat(west): *complaining angrily about something*

Indonesia: "Malaysia..."

Indonesia: "Barat!"

Indonesia: "MELAKA!!"

ASEANS/England/Natherlands/Japan: !!!!!!!

Other Nations: ??????

Malaysia Barat: "...yes?"

Indonesia: *sigh* "calm down..."

Character Quotes

Here are some out of context quotes ranging from feral to adorable to just down right tragic ^-^

" It seems remarkably simple. So simple, I feel so stupid that I'm truly flabbergasted by how it served as an epiphany. But even so, when I looked into the future, my future, I had one singular thought "I don't deserve this". - Nonkosi Tyali to Yituing

"Whatever you choose to be in the future is fine! When I say I love you, I don't want it to be a rule that means "stay this way forever". If you will be a burden in the future, that's fine. If you will be someone who decides not to love me, that's fine aswell. " - Yuuma Mochizuki to Jukka Virtanen

"I'm not naive darling, desite your unholy misrepresentation of my words. I understand the sins of men. I know all about your own failures to follow the scripture. I choose to be with you because I want my words to be honorable. And using my honorable tongue, I will say I love you because you are so delightfully human. - Gabriel to Claude

"At least the king named it Defense Innovation in Living Faculties (DILF) and not something named after himself!" - Hetrunmeass to Nariman Nahornyj

"If my vow was to fall in love with a virtuous person, then I definitely didn't break it." - Yal'ir to Monday

"If believing in love is all humans can ever do, and if hope for love is the most human of all, then I am purely human." - Verne Lawless to Stansevain

Quem me vê tão calada, não imagina o tanto de diálogo que se passa na minha cabeça...

Regular instance of writers

My character, sobbing from the amount of pressure they’re under: “It’s too difficult, one must be a god to do such a task!”

Me, holding a portfolio of new ideas: “Then a god you must become.”

"Don't worry about it, I'm okay." "I'm not, though."

"I’ve always been afraid of losing you, but the thought of never loving you terrifies me more."

"If loving you this much is going to be the death of me, then I’m okay with that. I’d choose it every time."

Random prompts

1. I’m flattered you think about me THAT often. Maybe I should start getting concerned as well

2. Anything else to add to the list of reasons why you despise me or can we finally get started?

3. Now, can someone be so kind and PLEASE explain to me why I’m here? In small words, if possible. I had a long day

4. Huh. I would have thought it hurt more.

5. This snail is off to kill me. I’m being serious here

6. See, a fish on dry land has more class than you.

7. Oh sweetheart, you’re in for a ride.

8. No, of course not. Do I look like someone who is mentally stable?

9. Your taste in shoes is telling me enough already

10. We caused the world to end, and it’s not even 9 in the morning