What makes a character in a novel memorable? The author’s description of the character, the character’s actions, or the character’s voice? Probably all three. Interesting and compelling conversation between the characters in the novel keeps you engaged and makes you want to read the entire novel. The uniqueness of the character’s voice makes the character come to life. Take for instance, a character from the Deep South. To make the character ring true, it is probably a good idea to give the character a southern accent. The same applies to a character of British descent. Speaking as the British do would make the character more real. To make a character believable, the character’s voice has to be believable.
Interesting dialogue can break up boring, lengthy narration and move the story along. By using compelling dialogue, your story isn’t just static. It is lively, animated, and energetic. Engaging dialogue keeps the reader turning the pages of the novel, instead of putting the novel down, never to pick it up again.
As you begin to develop the characters in your novel, try these simple techniques for writing believable and realistic dialogue.
Pay Attention to Everyone Around You
Listen to everyone around you. Go to your favorite restaurant, to the Laundromat, or to the mall, and just listen. Take notice of how different people talk and jot down anything interesting. Don’t be obvious with your eavesdropping. You don’t want people to think you are listening to their conversation per se, but you do want to find out how people express themselves and how they dialogue with one another. Listen to the various accents of the people. People from all parts of the country are living in close proximity to one another, making for distinct dialects and interesting speech patterns. If you are trying to make your character sound like a true northerner, zero in on a person with those particular speech patterns, and try to mimic how the person talks. Your character from the north will come across more believable if the dialogue is authentic to the region he or she resides.
Watch Your Favorite Television Program
Television programs are another way to examine the ways people from different regions speak. Listen to the inflections in the people’s voices and try to write their speech the way it sounds, not necessarily the way it would be spelled. A good example of a television station to listen to would be the BBC Channel. Watch your favorite British comedy and try to make your character’s voice match the television character’s voice.
Read Your Favorite Novel
Read some of your favorite novels and pay close attention to the dialogue used in the novels. How is the dialogue structured? How does the author make the character sound believable? Rewrite the dialogue for a character in one or more of the novels and see if you can make the character sound like he or she is from another region of the county. Does your attempt at the rewriting the dialogue sound more believable? More realistic? More authentic? If so, you are definitely on the right track to making your characters come alive.
Develop the Character’s Voice
Now taking stock of all the notes you’ve made, begin to develop your character’s voice and see how well you can make your character’s speech distinct. You don’t want static characters. You want characters that come alive and keep the reader engaged. Good dialogue keeps the readers wanting to find out what happens next, and believable dialogue gives your character authenticity.
Writing realistic dialogue is not an easy task, but keep at it. Making your character’s voice believable will make your novel stronger and will keep your readers begging for more.
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Katrina Parker Williams is an English Instructor who teaches English Composition and Grammar at a community college. She is also the author of a fictional novel Liquor House Music and publishes writing and publishing articles online. Visit Katrina’s website at http://www.stepartdesigns.com for more writing and publishing tips.
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