Hello my fellow enthusiasts!

First off I would like to point out that I searched for this topic and didn't find anything like it (but I could be wrong), if there's another topic like this one please lock this thread and point me in that direction, otherwise let's have a nice discussion about writing dialogue.

We all have our shortcomings and my biggest when it comes to creative writing is to write actual dialogue between characters. That is mainly why I am asking for your Do's & Don'ts, Tricks, Tips, Hints, etc. I also thought that this thread could serve as a source of knowledge for anyone else wondering about dialogue writing.

I would like to start with some more technical questions:

* How do you format the text when you write your dialogues?

* What grammar rules are there to follow when it comes to english when writing dialogue?

Now... to the big question:

What are your Do's and Don'ts when it comes to writing dialogue?

Edit: Yes I know that there is a do's and don'ts thread regarding writing for games, I am asking for a more specific discussion here.

I'm not sure I have a lot to say about dialogue. It should sound natural, which means descriptive grammar, rather than the more prescriptively proper grammar often used for narration. It should sound different for different characters, so you may want to think about whether one uses longer sentences and words and another uses shorter ones, whether one uses more slang or has an accent, etc. In the final version of the script it should have correct capitalization and punctuation and tagging as to what character is speaking it. If you're writing prose instead of script format then it needs to have quotation marks and all that.

What kind of grammar rules are you wondering about? Because other than quotation marks, dialogue doesn't have special grammar or punctuation.

Yes it seems mostly like common sense, any techniques that you like to use when thinking up/jotting down a dialogue?

I've read about a practicing technique where you imagine the dialogue of three characters around a camp fire, the setting (and topic) is yours to decide, so let's say post-apocalyptic for the sake of being cliché. Then you decide accent the differences characters shall have, each one must have a different accent. Then the game is on pretty much. Has anyone tried this type of technique, or something similiar to it?

The thing I wonder the most about grammar is how to format it on paper.

Lord Fluffybottom's pants fell to the ground as he happily raised his glass and screamed "Hail to the queen!". The entire room of diplomats gasped and stared at his rainbow striped underwear with a pink unicorn on the left leg.

Lord Fluffybottom's pants fell to the ground as he happily raised his glass and screamed.

- "Hail to the queen!".

The entire room of diplomats gasped and stared at his rainbow striped underwear with a pink unicorn on the left leg.

If you are writing it in a story, it would be:

Lord Fluffybottom's pants fell to the ground as he happily raised his glass and screamed, "Hail to the queen!" The entire room of diplomats gasped and stared at his rainbow striped underwear with a pink unicorn on the left leg.

But if you are writing it in a screenplay format it would be:

INT. PALACE - DINING ROOM - EVENING

Drunken Lord Fluffybottom stands to make a toast and does not notice his pants falling off. He is wearing rainbow striped unicorn underwear, at which the diplomats in the room gasp and stare.

FLUFFYBOTTOM

Hail to the queen!

For video games and comic books there isn't a standard format. This is what I personally use for comic books:

Numbering is: scene.page.panel

Scene 1 Summary – Lord Fluffybottom's drinking catches up with him in the middle of the diplomatic banquet at the palace.

1.1.0 - Scene Title "A Toast!" (All scene titles should be in the same cursive font.) Exterior of the palace, evening, showing the arrival of expensive cars with diplomat flags/plates and the well-dressed diplomats emerging to enter the palace. Chauffeurs and uniformed guards also decorate the scene. This panel is the full page width and 1/3 of the page tall.

1.1.1 – Lord Fluffybottom is seated at a banquet table, with other diplomats beside him His cheeks are red and he is holding up a champagne flute which a waiter is refilling. On the left sits Lord Suchandsuch, who is also somewhat drunk and in the middle of a rambling speech, "...good lord, Limburger, on the Queen's birthday? Stilton, man, Stilton!" Left half of the page, middle third.

1.1.2 - Lord Fluffybottom is overcome with a sudden fit of patriotic ecstasy - he stands, his chair shooting back. His glass is raised and he shouts "Hail to the queen!" while Lord Suchandsuch blinks up at him through his monocle. Right half of the page, middle third.

1.1.3 - Lord Fluffybottom's trousers, alas, couldn't take all the excitement - they fall down around his gartered socks, revealing his rainbow striped boxers with a pink unicorn on one leg. Lord Suchandsuch now peers downward through the monocle and his mouth has fallen open a bit. Suchandsuch mutters "I say, dear boy, I believe... you may have had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction..." Left third of the page, bottom third.

And for a video game, you may have the player making a dialogue choice. Again, this is the system I personally use:

Numbering: 30 is a plot milestone, these can be universal for a game or specific to a character or quest; they are done by 10s so there is room to insert things in between if necessary. 1 is the first in a sequence of dialogues and/or actions from a character. R is Root, meaning that the dialogue does not depend on any factors besides the plot milestone. A, B, etc. are the player's dialogue choice that the player is responding to. Q is a condition that the game checks to see if it is true.

FLUFFYBOTTOM 30.1R Lord Fluffybottom is holding a glass. When the player approaches, He raises his glass, shouts "Hail to the queen!" and his trousers fall down with a comical sound effect. His boxers are revealed to be rainbow striped with a pink unicorn. Player's response choices: A. Pretend you saw nothing and walk away. B. Point and laugh. C. Flirtatious Compliment.

FLUFFYBOTTOM 30.2A A waiter places a folding screen in front of Lord Fluffybottom, who then fixes his pants. The waiter removes the screen.

FLUFFYBOTTOM 30.2B FluffybottomRep -5 Fluffybottom notices his trousers, says "Ohdearohdearohdear..." and pulls them back up.

FLUFFYBOTTOM 30.2C FluffybottomRep +5 Flufflybottom laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Eheh, I believe my patriotic fervor may have gotten the better of my suspenders!" Then he leans forward and adds, "(whisper)Come to my room some time if you want to see my My Little Pony collection! (wink)"

This, my friend, was exactly what I need to get started on practicing to write dialogues. Thank you! I think that this thread will be useful to others that wonder the same things as I did, not that many people do wonder this very often.

I love how you grabbed my 2 minute story and took it further.

his glass and screamed, "Hail to the queen!" The entire room

I notice how there is no punctuation after the dialogue in the story text. Is that how it works? Comma before the dialogue while the dialogue ends the sentence.

This, my friend, was exactly what I need to get started on practicing to write dialogues. Thank you! I think that this thread will be useful to others that wonder the same things as I did, not that many people do wonder this very often.

I love how you grabbed my 2 minute story and took it further.

his glass and screamed, "Hail to the queen!" The entire room

I notice how there is no punctuation after the dialogue in the story text. Is that how it works? Comma before the dialogue while the dialogue ends the sentence.

Glad it was helpful. Yes, if the punctuation ending the quoted material is a sentence-ending punctuation mark, then there is no punctuation after the quotation mark. And the comma before the quoted material is used in most cases where there is narration first. Sometimes you will have a quote divided around some narration, or narration divided around a quote.

Harold grumbled, "Hail to the queen..." and smacked himself in the forehead.

"In the event of my..." Susan choked back a sob, "untimely death..."

There's one odd bit of punctuation around quotation marks. I personally disagree with this "rule" and do not use it, but if I even have an editor working on my stuff they tend to change my punctuation around to fit this convention. The "rule" is, when a quoted statement would end with a period (only a period - exclamation points, question marks, and ellipses aren't included) but be followed by more narration, replace that period with a comma.

"I don't care," she said.

I personally think that this convention makes no damn sense and is confusing to read. So I guess I'm boycotting it.

Oh, there's another rule that's a good basic rule. You can never have two different people's dialogue in the same paragraph.

I will definitely boycott that last weird thing as well. Takes away the feel for energy in the dialogue and as you said, makes it confusing to read.

Could you give an example of the basic rule regarding:

You can never have two different people's dialogue in the same paragraph.

How not to do two people's dialogue:

"How's the weather?" asked Jim. Sally replied, "The temperature is nice but it's too polleny out."

Also don't do:

Jim didn't know what to think. "I have no idea!" exclaimed Sally.

Instead, give each person their own paragraph:

"How's the weather?" asked Jim.

Sally replied, "The temperature is nice but it's too polleny out."

Jim didn't know what to think.

"I have no idea!" exclaimed Sally.

Oh I see, but that is just common sense. :)

Thanks a lot.

Oh I see, but that is just common sense.

You'd be surprised, lol. I have definitely seen fiction written by inexperienced writers that makes exactly this error.