5 Dialogue Mistakes You MUST Avoid | Writing Advice

"As you know dialogue is a very important part of a story. I don't need to tell you that but you see I need to exposit here so I'm telling you that," he lamented.

[@anthonyphan702]

This makes me feel better about spending about 5 hours today on a dialogue-heavy chapter. It is critical for establishing character motivations and furthering the arc of two main characters, but sheesh, it was like pulling teeth to get it to sit naturally! It remains to be seen how much of it will stay in when I review tomorrow, but it was nice have the validation that was hitting all of those points that you mentioned. I should have written the man in the desert book...

[@duncanosis6773]

Thanks, I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@niriop]

I’ve been praised for my dialogue (not lavishly, but it has been commended by certain editors), but it is something I still worry over, particularly in regards to your point about too much realism. I will offer a minor defence of a “purposeless” dialogue scene though-sometimes the utter meaningless of what the characters are saying to each other can be the point, or the joke, underlining an existential crisis or void that they’re trapped in. To do it properly is hard, but some writers have thrived on these scenes (Carver did it well for example).

[@madelinekonrad]

I would argue that your example does have a clear purpose. "These characters are having an existential crisis" is a perfectly good purpose for an exchange of dialogue.

[@niriop]

@@madelinekonrad You might say it’s a kind of borderline thing, open to interpretation.

[@madelinekonrad]

​@@niriop I suppose. I think the issue is that people think of plot as "external things that happen", but a character slowly going insane can be as heavily plotted and structured as an action sequence, or a murder mystery. If the dialogue clearly establishes existential dread, and that existential dread is critical to the plot, then the dialogue is plot relevant.

[@joemiller3208]

"Well, Carl, I have to hand it to you-this video had me hooked, but only because I couldn't look away from the train wreck. If you were aiming for dialogue so stiff it could replace the Statue of Liberty's arm, mission accomplished. I'm pretty sure my couch cushion delivered more dynamic lines last night. I thought you were saving the best for last, but it turns out that was just the credits. Keep practicing, though-there’s nowhere to go but up!"

[@bennobenny750]

Writing dialogue seems to be the most intuitive part of writing

[@CanYouKeepSecrets]

I like this episode because it's really helpful to me. One thing that I want to recommend is that you should try not to look at the screen too often or move the screen to right in front of your eyes instead that would be more natural. It will be like you are communicating to the audience all the time.

[@user-ob1sk7zz1e]

Thank you for the video! Great tips, and I love your humour!

[@duncanosis6773]

Thanks!

[@PaulRWorthington]

Hey, you changed your channel name! I guess that was easier than changing your actual name to "Osis." As for dialog: Jeff Elkins the Dialog Doctor guys says he tallied up the word counts of most best sellers and found that popular books are 70 percent dialog! Sounds like a lot, but my own reading preference fits that. For me fiction is primarily about character interaction, and if I turn the page and don't see quote marks on the next spread, I know I got two pages of something else to get through... In my writing I err on the side of way too much dialog. In my edit I try to cut a lot out, but part of me is like, "But they SAID it" so I can't make them NOT say it... Stupid writer brain.

[@CanYouKeepSecrets]

One more thing. is it possible to list down all the things that you just mentioned in the video for the audience to read more easily? It's annoying that I have to move backwards and forwards to understand the content.😂😂😂