Dialogue is where many new writers stumble, because real speech and written speech aren't the same thing. Good dialogue isn't a transcript — it's the illusion of real talk, sharpened and shaped. Master a few principles and your characters will start sounding like people.
Great dialogue isn't how people actually talk. It's how people feel like they talk, with the boring bits cut out.
1. Read it out loud
The single best test. If a line feels awkward in your mouth, it'll feel awkward on the page. Reading aloud instantly exposes stiff phrasing, unnatural rhythm, and lines no human would ever say. Do it for every conversation.
2. Cut the filler
Real conversations are full of "hello," "how are you," "fine, thanks." Cut almost all of it. Enter scenes late and leave early — start the dialogue at the interesting moment and end before it fizzles. Every line should do a job: reveal character, build tension, or move the story.
3. Give each character a distinct voice
If you removed the dialogue tags, could a reader still tell who's speaking? They should be able to. Vary vocabulary, rhythm, and attitude per character — the blunt one, the rambler, the one who deflects with jokes. Distinct voices make scenes feel populated by real, different people.
4. Let them say one thing and mean another
People rarely say exactly what they feel. The best dialogue runs on subtext — what's underneath the words. A character saying "I'm fine" while clearly not fine is far more powerful than them announcing their feelings. Trust your reader to read between the lines.
5. Keep tags simple, and use action beats
"Said" is nearly invisible and that's a virtue — you rarely need "exclaimed" or "retorted." Better still, replace some tags with action: "She set down her cup. 'We need to talk.'" Beats show who's speaking and add motion and emotion to the scene.
Then test it on real readers
Dialogue is meant to be heard by others, so the truest test is real readers. When you publish chapter by chapter on Arwy, you can see where readers light up or lose interest — and a flat exchange usually shows in the silence. It's a live workshop for your ear. (See how to get honest feedback and, to start, how to write a book with no experience.)
Make your characters sound alive — and let readers prove it. Publish on Arwy.