The King of Dialogue Rules

Of all the dialogue rules you will read about in this section on writing dialogue, this one is the most important - which is why it's the king!

Or to put it another way, if you follow all the other rules and suggestions to the letter but ignore this one, you'll be in trouble.

What is the rule? Simple: Dialogue in a novel must be in conflict.

It's obvious, really. Just as a description of two young lovers spending a perfect day out at the zoo doesn't constitute a plot (not unless the girl falls in the lion enclosure), so two people chatting about nothing much at all - and not disagreeing with each other, either - doesn't constitute dialogue so much as a pleasant conversation. Like this...

A perfectly nice conversation, the kind we all have everyday - but hopeless for the purposes of novel writing. Apply the king of dialogue rules, though, and it might look something like this...

Much more interesting, I'm sure you'll agree. Why? Because the dialogue is in conflict. Jane wants one thing and Bill wants something else...

• Bill wants to stick to the same old routine
• Jane wants some adventure in their relationship.

And when characters have conflicting goals, consequences are sure to follow.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having some everyday conversation in a novel. Dialogue rules, along with every other kind of novel writing rule, are there to be broken.

Sometimes a simple exchange of information between characters will be exactly what is required.

But for the most part go for tension and disagreement and conflict between the characters. Besides, writing dialogue is much more fun that way.

Next Step: Now that you are familiar with the most fundamental of all the dialogue rules, it is time to get down to the nuts and bolts of writing good dialogue...