Writing Good Dialogue: Give It a Purpose

There are 3 keys to writing good dialogue...

• You must Keep the Dialogue Concise
• You must Make the Dialogue Flow
• And you must Give the Dialogue Purpose, which is the subject of this article

Giving dialogue a purpose means that every line of conversation in your novel must be there for a reason. If the speeches in the novel don't meet at least one of the following three criteria, they should be cut:

1. Good Dialogue Drives the Story Forward

Conversations in the real world often have little or no point to them, with the circumstances of the people involved remaining unchanged. Writing good dialogue, however, means that a conversation in a novel should advance the plot in some way.

How do you know if dialogue moves the plot forward? Ask yourself these questions:

• Will the story still make sense if the dialogue is removed? If it can be removed without leaving a missing link in the character's journey towards his or her goal, scrap it.

• Does the dialogue increase the suspense for what is to come? If a character says something which causes the reader to worry about the nature or the outcome of an upcoming event, it should stay.

• Does the dialogue change the character's situation, for better or worse? Do they receive some good or bad information which leaves them closer to their goal or further away from it? If so, it is moving the plot forward.

• Does the dialogue shed some light on what the character wants? Anything which makes a character's goal clearer is good and should remain - as should anything which makes their motives clearer.

• Does the dialogue serve to strengthen the character's resolve, or perhaps weaken it? Are they told something which makes them wish they hadn't bothered to achieve their goal in the first place - or make them glad that they did? Either one is good.

I am sure there are plenty of other questions, but they give you the idea. If a conversation is some way related to a character's goals and conflicts, it can be said to be moving the plot forward. If the characters are talking about nothing important, it is filler and should be removed.

It should be noted, though, that some pointless conversation in a novel is good. Writing good dialogue also means keeping it authentic, and we all talk about the weather or what we would like for dinner.

Keep the chit-chat to a minimum, though. And always ensure that if a conversation starts out being about nothing of any importance, it quickly gets to the point.