Conversations between characters in a story always have the effect of enlivening the reader’s interest. The appearance of the layout is more attractive than a page of dense, descriptive text. There are fewer words on the page, more white space.

Dialogue gives soul to writing. Soulless stories are those where the author shies away from using direct speech, and chooses instead to report the gist of what the characters are saying. That author virtually gags the characters, and robs the narrative of vital colour and animation. Dialogue fleshes out the characters and endows them with their individual voices.

It is advisable to break up long-winded speeches. Choose an appropriate point to rest the reader’s eyes, and start a new paragraph with a quotation mark to open it. (See Quotations to learn about inverted commas). Only the last paragraph of that particular character’s speech is to be enclosed with the second of a pair of inverted commas.

Many writers find it difficult to produce flowing, convincing dialogue, or to vary speech patterns among their several characters. It is best to follow as nearly as possible the rhythms and cadences of natural speech, with here and there a hesitation or pause, and most importantly the contractions we use regularly, for example: he’ll, can’t, should’ve and couldn’t’ve. Without contractions the dialogue will often sound pompous and formal. A line of dialogue might be cut off by another speaker. Compare:

Indirect speech

Tom told his mother and father he was about to give up his job and join the army. (No emotion comes through in this bald reporting.)

Formal direct speech

Tom broke the news to his parents: ‘I am very sorry to upset you, but I shall be leaving my job next week to go into the army, as I feel the need of a change.’ (A quote, but very stilted unnatural speech for a young man addressing his mother and father, unless, of course, that shows the type of fellow he is.)

Natural direct speech

Tom turned and faced them: ‘Look, Mum … Dad, I hope you won’t get upset or anything like that, but I’ve decided to join the army. Yeah, I know, it means givin’ up my job and all that, but I’ve thought it over and I want a change, that’s all.’

Always use a fresh line for each speaker, and avoid he said, she said, after every line of dialogue when there are only two speakers. The reader will keep track of who’s speaking if you give each speaker a distinctive voice. The occasional use of reporting verbs other than said will give variety and convey added meaning where necessary, but the alternatives must not be allowed to intrude or become gratingly obvious.

You’ll be safe with conventional punctuation for dialogue, providing you don’t bend the rules too daringly. There are many departures from the time-honoured method. Some writers still use double inverted commas “like so”, but editors and publishers are increasingly preferring singles. Well-known novelists, Frank McCourt (in Angela’s Ashes) and Tim Winton (in Cloud Street) used no inverted commas at all! Nick Earls chose to put dialogue into italics (in Zig-Zag Street). Others prefer to introduce each line of dialogue with a dash:

— I cannot find a parking space, she complained.
— Go up another floor, he suggested.
— There are no more floors, she retorted.

Irrespective of how you present your dialogue, test its efficacy by reading it aloud. Pretend you are the person (or character) speaking the lines. If it sounds terrible in your ears, it probably is! Maybe an infusion of colloquialisms and strategic pauses will loosen the stiffness and let it sound natural.

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