Getting the Most out of Your Dialogue

Dialogue is when a person in your story is talking. Good dialogue always adds interest and action to a story. To get the most out of dialogue, fill it with information about the character, setting or plot.

1. Use dialogue to give information about the character. Example:

“Guard the castle while I am gone,” said Kyle. This tells us that Kyle is imaginative and likes playing adventure games.

2. Use dialogue to give information about the setting: Example:

“I love coming to your house,” said Holly. “My mom would never let me have two dogs, a cat and three lizards.”

3. Use dialogue to move the plot along: Example:

“Look,” said Isabel, rubbing the dirt off of an old pot, there’s a secret message written on it! Let’s look in the guide book to see what it means.”

Practice:

Use Dialogue to give information about your character:

______

Use dialogue to give information about your setting:

______

Use dialogue to move the plot along:

______

Another way to spice up your dialogue is to “fill in” some details about the person who is saying them. I added in the part that is italicized.

For Example:

“Guard the castle while I am gone!” said Kyle, swinging his pretend sword.

“Holly, you never finish what you start, “said mother, wading through the projects on Holly’s bedroom floor.

“Why, you are as tall as a tree!” exclaimed Aunt Betty, grabbing her suitcase from the car.

Practice:

Write down several lines of dialogue that you heard this morning. Don’t add anything to it, just the words alone. Skip a line between them.

Example:

“Time to get up,” said Mom.

“Do I have to?” grumbled Tom.

“Yes. I think it’s going to be a good day,” she smiled.

______

Now go back and add in some details about what they were doing when they said them. You don’t want to add what someone is doing to every sentence when you are writing; this would slow the pacing of the story, but for practice today, go ahead and do every line.

Example:

“Time to get up,” said Mom, trying to steady the thing in her hand.

“Do I have to?” grumbled Tom, holding the pillow over his head.

“Yes. I think it’s going to be a good day,” she smiled, holding a puppy behind her back.