Does an author’s dialogue look like it’s easy to write? It does? Good, because that means the author worked hard on it. In this series, I’ll share some basics of writing good dialogue.

Most professional writers are familiar with the expression “Show, Don’t Tell.” This comes from the great Russian writer, Anton Chekhov, who said: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” 

One of the ways we “show, don’t tell” is through dialogue.

The Purpose of Dialogue

• It should sound like real conversation.
• It should reveal something about the character.
• It should have conflict, either major or minor.
• It should be interesting.

Poorly Written Dialogue

“Where are you going?” Bill inquired.

“To the grocery store,” Alice answered.

        “Why are you going again?’ Bill remarked.

       “I forgot to buy eggs.”

       “Will this be the last time you’ll go today?” Bill sat on the couch and flicked on the television with his remote control.

       “Yes,” Alice said with conviction in her voice.

       “Well, goodbye then.”

       “Goodbye.” Alice walked out of the den.

Hey, man. That was boring! Now where’s my milk?

In future posts, I’ll critique and revise my “ho-hum” example. For now, let’s look at some basic principles.

The Basics

• Direct dialogue is when a character speaks. This goes inside double-quotation marks.
• Punctuation that ends a character’s dialogue goes inside the closing quotation marks.
• Each time a character, a new paragraph begins.
• When the speaker is identified, such as “Bill inquired” or “Alice answered,” these identifiers are called taglines or speaker attributions.
• When a character performs a physical action(s) in addition to dialogue, these action(s) are called beats.

I committed several dialogue mistakes in my example. Can you spot them? We’ll discuss them in more detail tomorrow.

One thing guarantees that an agent or editor will reject a manuscript: the writer failed to research the market. Rather than finding out what the publisher needs, the writer just submitted his/her work with a hope and a prayer. Professional writers can’t afford to do this.

Fortunately, numerous resources are available to help us. Two of them are: Writer’s Market and The Christian Writer’s Market Guide. Also, such magazines as Writer’s Digest and The Writer.

I recommend subscribing to one of the magazines I mentioned. Not only do they offer great writing instruction, they also publish interviews with agents, editors and authors, provide contest information and deadlines, publicize conferences, and similar things.

Also purchase one of the aforementioned current market guides. They provide contact information, publisher website information, the types of things they publish, and how much they pay (if they do). Study the guide, find a publisher you’d like to write for, then visit its website. From the website, download its writer/author guidelines.

Print the guidelines and follow them perfectly. Some magazines will want a query letter first whereas others will want the entire manuscript. Each magazine has its own format for authors to follow.

Regarding magazines, purchase a copy or else ask the editor to send you a sample. Sometimes they’ll send you one for free while other times, an author may have to buy a copy. Once you get it, study it.

Tips for Studying a Magazine

• Content. What kind of articles does it publish? Humor? Pet? Lifestyle? Or perhaps it publishes other kinds of articles. It’d be unwise to submit an article on “Four Ways to Catch Rainbow Trout” to a fashion magazine, for instance.
• Read. Read the articles and short stories (if it publishes short stories).
• How are the articles organized?
• What kind of openings and endings do the articles use?
• Do the articles have subheads?
• Are the articles straightforward and simply written, or do they use long sentences and long, multisyllabic words?
• Are its short stories literary fiction or commercial fiction?
• What fiction genres does it publish?
• Study. Study its advertisements. These reveal a lot about a magazine’s target audience. If most advertisements cater to women, then it will feature items of interest to them. The brands advertised tell us about the audience’s income level, tastes, etc. This helps us know what types of articles to write and submit.

Spend time doing market research. In the long-run, it’s worth the time, money, and effort.