Ideas To Improve Dialogue In Your Novel

Gary Smailes | 5 December 2025

What Strong Dialogue Should Do

Strong dialogue pulls weight. Every line pushes story, reveals who speaks, and tightens pressure. Flab slows the scene. Precision gives energy.

Serve story goals

Ask one question before a scene with voices: what must change by the end of this exchange? Knowledge, power, risk, trust, plan, mood. Pick one. Aim every line at that shift.

Flat:

“We should go.”

Purposeful:

“Leave the cash. Cops are two blocks away.”

Now the line advances plot and raises stakes. One more:

Flat:

“I forgive you.”

Purposeful:

“I forgive you, but you do not hold the spare key anymore.”

That line reveals character boundaries, adjusts power, and brushes theme. Consequence over comfort.

Mini test:

• Does a line confirm something the reader already knows? Cut or twist.
• Does a line force a choice? Keep.
• Does a line reveal a belief or fear? Keep.
• No change after three lines in a row? Someone needs to poke the bear.

Embed tension, even among allies

Friends still pull in different directions. Goals clash. Timing grates. Values scrape.

Friendly, but pressurized:

“Take the meeting.”

“Tonight is my kid’s recital.”

“Then bring a camera. I need you in that room.”

Nobody screams, yet friction builds. One more:

“Call her.”

“She asked for space.”

“Space is cheap. We need the code before sunrise.”

Notice the push and pull. A request meets a boundary, then pressure rises. Keep a tug in play, even during teamwork.

Quick tweak for a dull exchange. Turn agreement into a price.

Plain:

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Sharper:

“Fine, I will go on one condition.”

“Name it.”

Be specific

Concrete beats mush every time. Strong nouns and verbs reduce filler and cliché.

Mushy:

“Put the thing on the table.”

Specific:

“Drop the Beretta on the table.”

Mushy:

“I felt bad and walked away slowly.”

Specific:

“Shame burned, so I left my plate and walked to the door.”

Even small swaps matter.

• “Vehicle” becomes “truck” or “Vespa.”
• “Food” becomes “ramen” or “brisket.”
• “Looked” becomes “scanned,” “stared,” or “glanced.”

One caution. Do not overload every line with brand names and labels. Pick the one detail that carries meaning. “She folds the flag,” says more than three adjectives ever will.

Stay purposeful

Skip greetings, small talk, and throat clearing. Enter the moment where friction starts, exit once the change lands.

Bloated:

“Hi, Mark.”

“Hey, Sara, how are you?”

“Good, you?”

“Can’t complain. So, about the report...”

“Yeah, I have thoughts—”

Trimmed:

“The report is wrong.”

“Then bring numbers.”

Readers supply hello and goodbye from context. Reward that trust with focus.

Another trick. Let characters speak past each other when stakes rise. Purpose shines through overlap.

“I asked for the data.”

“And I asked for a weekend. Pick one.”

Keep clarity without clutter

Default to said or asked. They vanish, which keeps attention on words and action. Sprinkle tags with care. Place a beat when tone or motion matters.

Over-tagged:

“I did not know,” she confessed sorrowfully.

“You knew,” he retorted angrily.

“Stop,” she whispered fearfully.

Clean:

“I did not know,” she said.

“You knew,” he said.

“Stop.” She grips the railing.

That beat, “She grips the railing,” carries more tone than three adverbs. Re-anchor the speaker every few lines or when confusion creeps in. A nod, a glance, a prop moved across a counter. One precise move, not a mime routine.

Action

Write one sentence for the scene: “This conversation must change _____.” Fill that blank with one result. Trust, plan, risk, power, knowledge, mood, alliance. Tape the sentence above your desk.

Now prune. Any line that fails to serve the change goes. Replace dead lines with pressure, specificity, or a beat that tips the balance. Read aloud. If your mouth stalls, something bloats the rhythm. Trim again.

Strong dialogue works like a gear train. Each tooth meets another, and the scene turns. You feel momentum line by line.

Give Each Character a Distinct Voice

Your readers should know who speaks without looking at the name tag. Voice prints like fingerprints. Background shapes word choice. Status shapes sentence length. Values shape what gets said and what stays hidden.

Build idiolect through background

A surgeon speaks differently than a mechanic. Not because one is smart and one is not, but because their worlds teach different rhythms and vocabularies.

The surgeon:

"The procedure was straightforward. Minor complications, resolved quickly."

The mechanic:

"Transmission was shot. Took me three hours to pull it, but she runs smooth now."

Notice the patterns. The surgeon uses passive voice and medical distance. The mechanic uses active voice and personal ownership. Both know their craft, but craft shapes speech.

Push this further. A former military officer clips sentences and uses tactical language. A teacher explains in steps and checks for understanding. A musician hears rhythm in speech and speaks in phrases that rise and fall.

Example with three characters discussing a problem:

Military officer:

"Assess the situation. Two exits. Guard the north door."

Teacher:

"Let me make sure I understand. You want us to block one door while you take the other?"

Musician:

"Okay, so we have this rhythm going—you take lead, we hold the harmony."

Same information, three distinct voices built from experience.

Status shapes sentence structure

High-status characters make statements. Low-status characters ask permission, hedge, and apologize for speaking.

High status:

"We leave at dawn."

Low status:

"I was thinking, if it works for everyone, maybe we could possibly leave around dawn? If that's okay?"

Watch how status shifts mid-conversation change the voice:

"You think I stole from you?"

"I know you did."

"Then call the cops."

"Maybe I should have said please when I asked for my money back?"

The speaker starts defensive, gets challenged, then flips to control. Voice patterns shift with the power.

Code-switching happens when characters move between social groups. A character speaks one way with peers, another with authority, another with family. This adds layers.

With friends:

"This whole thing is garbage."

With the boss:

"I have concerns about the current approach."

Same frustration, different audience, different voice.

Let values leak through what remains unsaid

Characters reveal worldview through their verbal boundaries. What they refuse to say, how they dance around topics, when they go blunt instead of polite.

A character who never swears but says "That's unfortunate" when the house burns down shows emotional control or repression. A character who swears easily but whispers the word "cancer" shows where fear lives.

Religious character:

"He passed away peacefully." (Never says "died")

Pragmatic character:

"He's dead. Now what?" (No euphemisms)

Same event, different values showing through word choice.

Watch for euphemisms, bluntness, and taboos:

• Does your character say "bathroom," "restroom," or "toilet"?
• "Made love," "had sex," or something more direct?
• "Passed on," "died," or "croaked"?

These choices build character faster than three pages of backstory.

Show voice through syntax, not stereotypes

Skip the phonetic spellings and cartoon accents. Nobody wants to decode "Y'all come back now, ya hear?" on every page.

Instead, show cultural background through sentence structure, word choice, and reference points.

Character from the South might say:

"I'm fixing to head to the store."

Character from New York might say:

"I'm running to the store."

Same action, different regional syntax. Or:

Rural character:

"Storm's coming. See how the cows cluster by the fence?"

Urban character:

"Check the weather app. Says it's going to pour."

Different relationship with information and environment, shown through voice.

Contrast voices within scenes

Put characters with different speech patterns in the same conversation. Contrast makes each voice sharper.

"The data suggests a correlation."

"English, please."

"The numbers show a pattern."

"What kind of pattern?"

"The kind that means trouble."

One character speaks in abstractions, the other demands concrete terms. The contrast keeps voices distinct and pushes for clarity.

Another example:

"We should consider all possibilities before making a decision."

"Or we could flip a coin and move on."

"This is serious."

"So is my time."

Methodical voice meets impatient voice. Readers hear the difference in approach to problems.

Test voice strength

Remove all dialogue tags from a full page. Read it aloud. If you stumble over who speaks, the voices need more distinction.

Common voice problems:

• Everyone uses the same sentence length
• Everyone has the same vocabulary level
• Everyone explains things the same way
• Everyone reacts to pressure identically

Fix these by giving each character specific verbal habits:

• One interrupts, one waits for pauses
• One asks questions, one makes statements
• One uses metaphors, one sticks to facts
• One apologizes, one deflects blame

Action step

Pick your strongest scene with multiple speakers. Delete every "he said" and "she asked." Read it aloud. Circle any spot where you lose track of the speaker.

Now revise those spots. Change word choice, sentence rhythm, or reference frame until each character speaks with their own voice. The goal is clarity without tags.

Strong character voices work like instruments in a band. Each plays their own part, but together they make music that moves the story forward.

Layer Subtext, Not Just Words

When characters say the blunt truth, tension dies. Readers lean in when people talk around wants, fears, and leverage. Give them something to read between.

Stop saying the thing

On-the-nose:

"I am jealous of your promotion. I worry you will leave me."

Subtext:

"Corner office."

"It faces the river."

"Plenty of room for new friends."

No speech about jealousy. The subject shows up anyway. Pride, worry, a jab. You feel the ache without a billboard.

Try another:

On-the-nose:

"I lied about the money."

Subtext:

"I checked the account."

"Did you?"

"Twice."

"Then you know."

Shame lives in the gap between question and answer.

Mini exercise:

• Write a blunt confession in one line.
• Replace it with three lines that circle the same truth. No direct naming. Keep the heat.

Let beats carry meaning

Beats are tiny actions. Sips. Fidgets. Glances. They bend a line without changing words.

Plain:

"Of course I trust you."

With beats:

"Of course I trust you." She pockets the spare key.

Same words, different meaning. The key speaks.

Another:

"We should tell her."

He watches the hallway. "Later."

He listens for footsteps he hopes to miss. You feel the stakes rise, no speech needed.

Guide for smart beats:

• Use props with history, not random objects.
• Tie movement to desire. Eyes shift toward exits when someone wants out.
• Avoid busywork. Stirring tea says little unless the spoon rattles in a shaking hand.

Use silence and interruption as pressure

Silence is a line. Use it.

"Did you love him?"

She ties one shoe. Then the other.

"He was kind."

A pause can feel louder than a scream. Ellipses help when a voice thins out under stress, used with care.

"I thought you said you were done with him..."

"I did."

For cut-offs, use a dash in your manuscript to signal a break. Or break the line with an action.

"I never meant to hurt"

He steps in. "I heard enough."

No need to overdo pausing marks. Weight comes from context, not a row of dots.

Answer sideways: yes-but and no-and

Sideways answers keep momentum. Agreement with a twist, refusal with an offer.

"Will you help me move Saturday?"

"Yes, but my truck goes first. Your boxes wait."

Agreement, new cost, clear rank.

"Is this your signature?"

"No, and I know whose."

Refusal, path forward. The scene gets a new target.

Try a quick ladder of pressure:

"Did you delete the file?"

"Yes, but only the copy."

"Where is the original?"

"In a place you will not like."

Each answer forces a harder question.

Track control of the topic

Power flows to whoever sets the subject. Watch who asks, who answers, who dodges. Let the control flip.

Boss holds the floor:

"Status on the bid."

"We submitted."

"Numbers?"

"Within range."

Now flip:

"One more thing."

The junior closes the door.

"Legal found a conflict in your brother's firm."

Topic control moves. Sentences shorten. The junior stops reporting and starts steering. The boss loses ground without a raised voice.

You can show shifts with question count, statement weight, and who names concrete details. The one who names specifics often drives the bus.

A full example, step by step

Version one, all on the nose:

"Where were you last night?"

"At the bar. I flirted with Tom. I want a divorce."

"That hurts me. I am angry."

Version two, dialogue only, with subtext:

"Where were you last night?"

"Place on Fifth."

"With who?"

"They pour a clean drink."

"Tom pours a clean drink."

"You said we needed new friends."

Version three, add beats that change meaning without changing words:

"Where were you last night?"

"Place on Fifth." She sets her phone face down.

"With who?"

"They pour a clean drink." Her coat stays on.

"Tom pours a clean drink."

"You said we needed new friends." She opens a window, winter air rushing in.

Words stayed close to version two. The beats did the damage. Phone hidden. Coat on. Window open. Cold marriage, colder room.

Field test

Try this with your own scene:

1. Strip every tag and beat. Keep only spoken lines.
2. Read aloud. Mark where voices blur or meaning goes flat.
3. Add beats with purpose. One per move. Aim for objects and gestures tied to desire or fear.
4. Swap in a pause or a cut-off where pressure peaks.
5. Check topic control. Give the other speaker a turn holding the subject, then steal it back.

A few guardrails:

• One beat does more work than five.
• Silence carries more weight when questions pile up.
• Ellipses earn their place only when a voice falters.
• Dashes for breaks, not style glitter.
• If a beat repeats, shift to a new tell. Stop the endless coffee sip.

Subtext is not vague. It is precise pressure under simple words. Train your ear for what people avoid, what they misname, where they change the subject. Put that dance on the page. Readers will feel the pull without hearing a lecture.

Shape Pacing and Scene Mechanics

Dialogue controls speed and structure. Short lines race. Beats and sensory detail slow and deepen. Use both on purpose.

Vary line length to steer the scene

Fast:

"Where were you?"

"Out."

"With who?"

"No one."

"Try again."

"Work."

Six lines. No beats. High pace. Readers sprint.

Slower:

"Where were you?"

"Out." She studies the sink, a brown ring around the drain.

"With who?"

"No one." A drip ticks against metal.

"Try again."

"Work." She twists the tap until the drip stops.

Same core. Added beats drag time and layer mood. Use this shift when tension needs breath, or when a reveal needs weight.

Quick exercise:

• Take a fast exchange from your draft.
• Add three beats tied to objects in the room.
• Read both versions aloud. Pick the pace that serves the moment.

Anchor the setting so voices have bodies

Two people trading lines in a blank void feels thin. Ground speakers in space. Let the world push back.

Floating heads:

"Did you bring the keys?"

"No."

"Then we wait."

Anchored:

"Did you bring the keys?"

"No." She rattles the locked gate. A dog barks on the other side.

"Then we wait." He checks the street. Headlights sweep over their shoes.

Better: let the setting complicate the talk.

Complication:

"Did you bring the keys?"

"No." She rattles the gate. A dog barks. Lights flip on in the house.

"Then we wait."

"We leave." He backs away as a porch light snaps to life.

Now the environment adds pressure. The scene moves because the world moves.

Checklist for grounding:

• Touch something with history, not a random mug.
• Use sound and temperature sparingly.
• Give one constraint from the room, street, car, or field that changes choices.

Create turns

A turn is a shift in direction. A tactic fails. A new fact hits. Power flips.

No turn:

"Sign the form."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

With a turn:

"Sign the form."

"No."

"Please." He slides a photo across the table.

She looks down. "Where did you get this?"

A single object flipped control. The page gained a new path. Aim for one such shift every page.

Types of turns:

• Reversal: the beggar gains leverage.
• Reveal: a secret lands and rewrites stakes.
• Shifted tactic: charm drops, threat enters.

Build an escalation ladder

Each exchange should increase pressure. Shorten time. Raise cost. Remove options.

Start:

"Tell me where the drive is."

"I lost it."

Raise cost:

"Tell me where the drive is."

"I lost it." She presses a towel to her cheek. Blood seeps through.

"Try again."

Remove options:

"Tell me where the drive is."

"I lost it."

He locks the door and pockets the only key. "Then we search together."

Tighten time:

"The ferry leaves in ten minutes."

"Then we run."

Every rung forces a harder choice. Start small. Step up every few lines.

Maintain attribution rhythm

Clarity beats style. Re-anchor the speaker every three to five lines, or sooner if voices blend. Use said and asked. Save fancier tags for rare emphasis.

Messy:

"Stop," she said. "I need to think," he whispered. "No time," she snapped. "There is always time," he muttered.

Cleaner:

"Stop," she said.

"I need to think."

"No time."

"There is always time," he said.

Once a voice is clear, drop a tag for a line or two. Then remind readers who holds the floor. Beats re-anchor too.

Tag with a beat:

"Stop." She grips the railing.

"I need to think."

"No time."

"There is always time." He stares at the river, eyes unfocused.

Put all the pieces together

Version one, thin and flat:

"You broke the door."

"It was open."

"Pay for repairs."

"No."

Version two, paced and grounded:

"You broke the door."

"It was open." He rubs a splinter out of his palm.

"Pay for repairs."

From the upstairs hall, a floorboard creaks. He glances up. "Later."

Now pace slows, setting joins, a turn hints at a third presence, and a beat re-anchors the line.

Action: beat-map a scene

Try this on a printed page and a pencil:

1. Mark each speaker’s goal in the margin.
2. Underline the main obstacle for each goal.
3. Circle the turn where control shifts.
4. Draw a box around any rung that raises cost, shortens time, or removes an option.
5. Cut one third of attribution tags. Replace with precise beats that anchor bodies and place.
6. Read aloud. Add a short line where speed drags. Add a beat where meaning blurs.

One last pass:

• Short lines for heat.
• Beats that earn space.
• Setting as pressure, not wallpaper.
• A turn every page.
• Clear voices, re-anchored on a steady rhythm.

Shape dialogue like this and scenes stay tight. Readers feel the pull and keep moving.

Revise Like an Editor

Revision is where dialogue earns its paycheck. You trim fat, sharpen edges, and leave only lines that move story or character. Bring a pen. Be bold.

Compress without mercy

Most first passes arrive with hellos, throat clearing, and echoes. Cut them.

Before:

"Well, hi, Mark," she said. "So, um, I was going to talk to you about the rent, because, you know, the landlord keeps emailing me about it," she said nervously.

After:

"Rent."

Before:

"Are you coming to the meeting at three? I sent the invite yesterday," he said.
"I saw it. I will be there," she said.

After:

"Three?"
"Yes."

Same information. Fewer words. Higher charge.

Quick pass to try:

• Kill greetings, small talk, and filler words like well, so, um.
• Remove repeated info readers already know.
• Cut redundant tags when two speakers trade lines clearly.

Replace adverbial tags with proof

If the line works, you do not need a helper adverb. If the line falters, no adverb will save it.

Before:

"I am fine," she said angrily.

After options:

"I am fine." She slams the cupboard.
"Fine." She keeps her eyes on the knife.

Emotion lives in word choice and behavior. Use said and asked for tagging. Show heat with a beat or a sharper line.

Break up monologues

Long speeches put readers to sleep unless you manage rhythm. Interrupt with reaction, movement, or a shift in space.

Before:

"I grew up in a house where nobody listened to anyone. We ate in silence. We watched television instead of talking. When I left for college, I swore I would never go back there, and then last week my mother called me, and I felt like I was fifteen again, and I could not breathe. So no, I do not want to go home for Thanksgiving. I will not sit in that dining room and pretend we are happy."

After:

"I grew up in a house where nobody listened."
He reaches for her hand. She pulls back.
"We ate in silence. Television every night."
She stands, paces once. Stops.
"Last week my mother called. I felt fifteen again. I could not breathe."
She folds her arms.
"So no. I will not go home for Thanksgiving."

Same content. More shape. Breath spots. Room for another person to react.

Hunt tics before they hunt you

Personal tics dull lines fast. Sweep for these, then set a strict quota.

• Names. In real talk, friends seldom use each other’s names. Keep them for focus or heat.
• Exclamation points. One in a chapter is plenty. Two if someone falls off a roof.
• Ellipses. They signal drift. Use for true trails-off, not indecision on every page.
• Fillers. Well, so, um. Save for voice, and then sparingly.

A trick: use search. Sort by frequency. If a tic pops twenty times in one chapter, prune to five.

Read aloud or listen back

Mouth-check every scene. If your tongue trips, the line needs work. Shorten or shift word order. Trade a fancy verb for a simple one. Dialogue has to sit in the mouth.

Text-to-speech helps too. A flat voice exposes clunky rhythm. Mark every stumble. Fix one by one.

Mini test:

• Put the page on your phone.
• Walk while reading. Speed shows bloat.
• Record two minutes. Listen once. Cut the slow parts.

Get the right readers

Fresh eyes save months. Pick for purpose.

• Beta readers. Look for subject knowledge or lived experience. Ask for truth, not praise. Give them three questions, such as where they lost interest or where a line rang false.
• Sensitivity readers. Use them when representation is at stake. Pay for labor. Listen to notes without defensiveness.
• Line edit pass. Ask a tough friend to circle anything flabby, vague, or confusing. If you hear the same note twice, take it.

Give readers context. One paragraph on goals for the scene. One on what you worry about. No speeches.

Run a highlighter pass

Color forces honesty. Use three markers and keep your hand moving.

• Yellow for plot. Facts, decisions, new stakes.
• Pink for character. Values, reveals, tells.
• Blue for tension. Pressure, risk, leverage.

Read the page. Highlight every line. Any uncolored line earns a question in the margin. Keep or cut? If you keep, revise so it earns a color. If it earns two, even better.

Example before:

"I mean, I think we should, you know, talk about the money later," Tom said quietly. "Because we have time, and this is stressful."
"Sure, Tom," Nora said. "We can talk after dinner, okay?"

Color check:

• Plot: none.
• Character: none new.
• Tension: none.

After:

"Money," Tom said. "Not tonight."
Nora studies him. "Tomorrow morning. Before the realtor."

Color check:

• Plot: timing and plan, yellow.
• Character: Nora leads, pink.
• Tension: deadline in the morning, blue.

A full before-and-after pass

Raw:

"Hey, Julia, I wanted to talk to you about the report," Mike said. "Well, it is late, and the client is going to be super upset," he said loudly. "So, um, what are you going to do about it?"
"I told you yesterday," Julia said angrily. "I sent it to your inbox, and you did not read it, obviously."
"I did read it..." Mike said. "I mean, I skimmed it," he added nervously.

Edited:

"Report," Mike said. "It is late. The client will be upset. What will you do?"
"I sent it yesterday." Julia keeps typing. "Check your inbox."
"I read it," Mike said.
She stops. Looks up.
"I skimmed it."

Changes:

• Greetings gone.
• Adverbial tags replaced with beats and cleaner lines.
• A pause inserted for a turn.
• Clearer pressure with client mentioned once, not twice.

A quick checklist before you ship

• Every line earns at least one color.
• No speech starts with well or so unless voice demands it.
• Adverbial tags swapped for beats or stronger wording.
• Long speeches broken with reaction or movement.
• Tics trimmed to near zero.
• Read-aloud pass complete.

Revision is blue-collar work. Quiet, steady, ruthless. Do this, and your dialogue stops talking and starts doing.

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