Dialogue is the exhalation of written language.

Writers reveal things about characters through dialogue—not just by what they say, but by how they say it. Everyday speech is typically associated with half-finished thoughts, pauses, and meandering tangents. A writer must have a finely tuned inner ear for language—one that captures the essence of real speech and translates it onto the page without making it sound like a mere transcription.

A well-tuned ear works like a Babel fish, interpreting the pauses and subtext of spoken language into something that feels authentic but remains intentional and readable.

“Well-written dialogue,” writes screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, “is the way people wish they could talk.” It is refined, sharpened, and layered with meaning.

Great dialogue is as much about what’s not said as what is. Tennessee Williams mastered this in A Streetcar Named Desire, where Blanche DuBois never declares her fear of aging and irrelevance—yet every line she delivers carries the weight of her desperation.

“The most important thing in dialogue is not what is said but what is meant.” — Peter Brook

A conversation on the page should always have an underlying current—something bubbling beneath the words. Each character should have their own distinct voice. If you remove the phrases that indicate who is speaking from a conversation in your story, can you still identify the speakers? If not, your characters may be blending together.

I read plays to absorb the music of refined dialogue. Writers can also crowdsource dialogue, eavesdropping on conversations in coffee shops and writing down snippets of chitchat that tickle the ear. I’ll rewrite those fragments, cleaning them up so they still feel genuine. I also summarize social media comments from distinct voices and rewrite them, which is another form of theft, but I revise to make it my own.

Exceptional dialogue comes from elevating the raw material of ordinary speech.

Being a student of conversation and playing with dialogue on the page will give your characters voices that are expressive, engaging, and dynamic.