I Love Writing Dialogue - Tumblr Posts
can you share your favorite line of dialogue out of context? :)
Is it ok if I share my favorite lines of dialogue from something I’ve written? Cause I really like these dialogues;
John rubbed his chin, acting deep in thought, humming. “Well, I’m no good at this sort of stuff, really… What about fifty coppers?” The woman laughed so hard she almost choked on her own spit, head thrown back sharply.
“Fifty?! It’s nice, but not that nice! Tell you what; I’ll give you ten and we’ll call it fair.”
“Psh, only ten? I’ll admit fifty might’a been a bit high, but I’m sure you can go higher than that.”
The merchant huffed. “Fine, fifteen.”
“Thirty.” John replied. Behind him Blake rolled his eyes.
“Twenty!”
“Twenty-five. C’mon, meet in the middle; That’s fair!”
With a nasty scowl the merchant hung her head, defeated.
“Fine, we have a deal at twenty-five– If you throw in the horse.” She added with a cross of her arms, probably feeling smug. That actually worked out perfect for him and Blake, but he couldn’t act too excited, so he pretended to think about it. Blake glared at him, glancing between the horse and the woman rapidly.
“Ehhh… Alright fine, I guess you can take the horse, too.” He said, sighing.
“Perfect! I’ll count out the money.”
————
“And then?” John brushed his hands together to get rid of the dirt.
“Then we grab Robert and get outta dodge, is what I’m thinking. Of course we could always stay for tea, maybe some finger sandwiches–“
“I mean that this is your plan? This isn’t anything! It’s half-baked!” Adler yelled.
“Less than half-baked.” Blake chimed in. John rolled his eyes.
“Well then go ahead, make a better one. I for one haven’t had the privilege of being inside the castle but since you obviously know it so well–“
“None of us know what it’s like inside, that’s why we need Ekward’s help!” John stood up in a huff, glaring and flexing his fingers around the strap of his bag slung across his chest.
“Why don’t you go and chit chat with the bird’s then? I’m sure one of them will have Ekward’s contact information.” He said sarcastically.
————
(Does inner dialogue count?)
He hummed, re-reading it once or twice before setting it down and pouring another glass. He lived in New Jersey, a quiet suburban neighborhood, and he was supposed to go to Oregon because a paper told him to? It was ridiculous, laughable even! He drained the glass and poured one more, drinking it just as fast. He'd better get packed.
No Context Dialogue
"Don't worry... It's not strawberry jelly."
No Context Dialogue
"Hey, don't dig up the orchids playing your little game!"
"Not playing a game!"
Kindergarten Dialogue #001
Adult A:“1 would you like it if they were leaving you out and being mean?”
Kid 1: “Yes, I love crying!”
Writing tip: the way your characters word what they say tells us as much about them as what they're saying. For example:
"Shampoo tastes bad." - neutral statement, simply stating the obvious. Tells us nothing about how the character sees themselves or the world around them. Uninteresting.
"I just don't like the way shampoo tastes." - implies that the character speaking considers this to be an unusual feature of themselves, in contrast to other people, who are implied to supposedly enjoy it. Raises additional questions.