How to Avoid Common Mistakes when Writing Dialogue

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Use the attribution

   When readers are skimming along through a novel, the word "said" is just like a punctuation mark.
   
   Usually, this tag is easier to use, because it doesn't require you to have a long list of vocabulary words, so-to-speak. , Having a large vocabulary is a good thing, especially when writing fiction.
   
   But when it comes to dialogue tags, this is not always recommended.
   
   For example: "Maddie," he opined, "I love you." The previous statement made by the fictitious character is completely fine, but many readers would be most interested by the word "opined." That's not a good thing.
   
   Your reader must be focused on the dialogue that moves the story forward, not the tags used in the dialogue. , When it is necessary to use different words as tags, that is fine.
   
   But instead, if you need an attribution, use said.
   
   If you must use something different for the occasional question, you could toss in asked". , In dialogue, you will probably be most likely to have two characters repeat each other's names over and over, just so that you can help the reader identify who's talking.
   
   Stop right there.
   
   It might be problematic if you are trying to give hints to the reader to let him know who is talking in the story through dialogue., What this means is that you should make a character do something, and immediately after that, make the character say something.
   
   It will give the reader an idea about who's talking.
   
   For example:
   Jack trailed his finger along the railing. "I'm sorry."  Sally nodded. "I accept your apology."
   
   We get plenty of this in real life, but in fiction? This is a no-no.
   
   Shorten your character's sentences to avoid him/her sounding like a know-it-all.
   
   If you don't like the way your character is speaking, review your character notes.
   
   The way the character speaks depends on the character's personality. , The worst offender here is dialogue with backstory or exposition.
   
   For example: "Do you remember when I had to pay my bill on time?" Why is this character saying this? Why is it relevant to the story? Most of the time, backstory should be eased into the story as time goes forward, not through dialogue., While great dialogue is great when it is diversified with the characters, too much of this is as bad as a football player playing soccer.
   
   When in doubt, tell the reader that the character had a "a lovely Scottish burr," or "a British accent with a flourish." This makes the reader develop their own sense of this., Remember, giving a character the quality of thinking is a good thing, but don't overdo it.  Too much thinking can slow the story's pace, particularly when the character thinks and thinks and just keeps thinking about the same thing throughout the story.
   
   What's the point? We want answers! Not thinking., Yes, making dialogue sound real is awesome! But at times, it isn't.
   
   Real people stutter, burp, sniffle, and more throughout their sentences.
   
   Don't add all of this into your dialogue.
   
   It's just distracting and choppy.
   
   It even makes the character sound like he's lying.
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   Step 2: Avoid using different words as "tags".

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   Step 3: Don't reach for the thesaurus

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   Step 4: so-to-speak.

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   Step 5: Avoid overusing a character's name in dialogue.

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   Step 6: Give a character some action.

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   Step 7: Avoid chit-chat.

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   Step 8: Avoid clunkers.

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   Step 9: Avoid accents.

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    Step 10: Avoid internal dialogue.

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    Step 11: Avoid mimicking real conversations.

Detailed Guide

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