I am trying to write a novel, and I want it to have dialogue. But when I try to add Dialogue it always sounds so fake. Like a bad movie, it just doesn’t sound like a real person is talking.
And like the whole he said, she said thing sounds so repetitive. And I can’t seem to find another way to write it while still clearly writing who is saying the sentence.
There’s so much to say on this topic! 🙂 We could literally write whole books about it.
But just for one thing to get you started: at The Company’s apprenticeship, we write audio dramas. Like old-time radio programs.
This is a great exercise because your dialogue has to do all of the work. The dialogue has to develop character, plot, subtext, the whole deal. You don’t have any narration, descriptions, or dialogue tags to help.
Try it out! Doing an exercise where dialogue is all you have to develop the story will help you to build that muscle.
What has helped me in the past is to do dialogue exercises like write a scene, only with dialogue, nothing else. No exposition, no actions described, no thoughts, only dialogue. Stick with two characters first, new line for when you switch between them. Then after you write that scene, completely change one (or both) of the characters and put them in the same situation and see how it changes. You could also change the motivations of the characters and see how the scene changes (e.g. interrogation scene with the character wanting to prove his innocence vs actually wanting to go to jail to meet his father). This will help you develop a sense for how dialogue portrays character and that is the most important part.
You’ll only really learn by reading, watching great dialogue and lots and lots of practice. So fail early, fail fast, and eventually you’ll see yourself improve 🙂 That’s the best thing about writing exercises, you don’t have to write a full book on it 😛