In Dialogue With Writers

Two writers converse about writing… and conversing

In the previous installment of this series, we revealed how dialogue is one of a writer’s most useful storytelling tools. But it’s tricky to get right. One way to practice writing dialogue is by listening to, and writing down, real conversations in real life. This can mean going to a café on a busy day and casually eavesdropping on others’ conversations (just make sure to keep everything anonymous if you do end up writing about them) or watching YouTube or TikTok videos and transcribing them—as long as you’re not plagiarizing. The point is to see what it looks like on paper and use that as inspiration and practice, not to copy others’ work. It can mean having a conversation with someone else, recording it, and then going back to write it down to see what the cadence is like, how you and your conversation partner interact, and the words you say—and don’t say. 

That last one is what we’ve done in this blog. I interviewed Brink’s Communications & Marketing Director and Senior Editor, Nate Ragolia, about how he tackles dialogue. Here’s how our conversation unfolded. 

Talking Back

The two writers sit in their respective homes with Zoom pulled up on the screens between them. As Nate flickers onto the screen, Maribel unfolds her hands and smiles. 

“Nate, hello! Thank you for joining me,” she says. 

After some small talk about Nate’s dogs and the weather, Maribel jumps into the interview. 

“So here we are, two writers, talking to each other as an example for our readers—to show them what dialogue can look like when taken from real life.” She clears her throat and continues. “What are some memorable examples of dialogue in any kind of media, whether novels, short stories, video games, movies, TV shows, or anything else that comes to mind for you?” 

“In the most recent episode of my podcast we talk about the first Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs,” Nate says. “It’s a movie that, despite being a violent crime thriller, hinges almost entirely on dialogue because of its low budget. Tarantino is known for his snappy, plot-driving, character-revealing dialogue that’s ultimately just compelling. The way he approaches it, you get all the information you need for the story, but you also get more than that. It’s in conversation with previous exploitation films, the themes of the movie, and all of movie history. It’s like the dialogue is weaving small stories within the story of the film at large.”

Interlude 1

Let’s analyze this spiel from Nate from a storytelling perspective. As a piece of dialogue in a novel, what he says would perhaps feel a little long and rambling. The reader might lose interest along the way, even though what he’s saying is important and true. So how can we fix it? 

1. Create more character interactions:

“Quentin Tarantino’s first film Reservoir Dogs has some of the best dialogue I’ve ever seen,” says Nate. “It’s snappy, drives the plot forward, and shows you what the characters are like. It’s compelling.” 

“I’ve never seen it. All that violence,” Maribel shakes her head with a shudder, “not for me.”

2. Make it more dramatic: 

“Even though he’s controversial, I think Quentin Tarantino does some of the best dialogue I’ve seen,” says Nate. 

Maribel raises her eyebrows. “Really? How so?”

“It’s snappy, drives the plot forward, shows you what the characters are like… it’s compelling, especially compared to so many other movies.” 

“I feel like you’re slamming other movies,” Maribel says. 

Nate shrugs. “If the shoe fits…” 

3. Make it more subtle: 

“Good movie dialogue is compelling, only a few get it right,” says Nate. 

Maribel raises her eyebrows. “Like who?”

“Ever seen Reservoir Dogs?” 

Now, obviously this subject matter very likely wouldn’t appear in a novel, unless that novel was trying to give you tips on writing dialogue. The point is that each take shares slightly different information and has a different vibe. Rewriting dialogue that has inspired you to express different feelings is one of many ways to practice doing it. 

Back to the Conversation

Maribel and Nate continue the conversation, adding more examples of great dialogue in media and starting with the iconic 90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“It was one of my favorite shows as a kid—well, ages 17 to 24 or whenever it came out.” Nate laughs. “It was funny and smart, and the characters felt real. It grounded outlandish concepts—like vampires and a Hellmouth—in a teenage experience. It also utilizes slang that feels both real and unique to the show itself.”

Maribel nods, reflecting. She’s seen every episode of Buffy at least three times, though she watched it after all the episodes had already come out on DVD. 

“So true, like ‘wig out’ and, I don’t know, ‘vampy,’” says Maribel. 

Nate nods. “Exactly.” 

Interlude 2

In the interaction above, both Nate and Maribel’s dialogue gives us more insight into their characters—who they are. Nate, for example, is older than 24, and was about at that age when Buffy first aired. Maribel, on the other hand, we know is younger than that due to her reflecting on when she watched it. Thus, we discover more about the dynamics between these two people. We also know that they’re both huge geeks—we’ll learn more about that next. 

A Little More Conversation

Maribel moves the conversation forward. “What about literature? Who can we go to for great examples of dialogue there?” 

“Obviously, Shakespeare is a big one,” says Nate. “When you read it for the first time, you struggle just to understand what’s going on because it’s written in a cadence and way we’re just not used to anymore. But once you move beyond that, it’s so rewarding. Nearly everything has an additional meaning of some kind—a double entendre, a hilarious pun, a disguised joke.” 

Maribel nods along, smiling and thinking of her days performing Shakespeare in high school. How many disguised dick jokes had she accidentally said? 

He continues, “Almost all of Shakespeare’s dialogue, even in the tragedies, has this comedic underpinning where people are often saying one thing and meaning another. And you only really get that when you see it performed on stage.”

Further examples that Nate and Maribel agree on include: 

• Jane Austen — In a similar vein to Shakespeare, when you first read her it feels slow. But as you get older, see adaptations of her work, and reread her novels, you can see how decorated with meaning and quiet specificity each character’s dialogue is. 
• Cormac McCarthy’s The Road — In this post-apocalyptic novel, McCarthy breaks some of the common dialogue “rules,” such as by not using any punctuation. Instead, recognizing what is spoken aloud relies entirely on enjambment. This creates an effect that feels like the world is so dire that there isn’t even time for a quotation mark. Breaking these rules should only happen after you master them and prove you can follow them, and every time you break them it needs to be done with a clear purpose, both Maribel and Nate agree. 
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — In this irreverent, almost satirical take on science fiction, Douglas Adams constantly breaks the rule popularized by Elmore Leonard about only using “says/said” for dialogue tags. In this case it works because it plays into the tone and humor of the piece. 

On Monologuing

One thing Maribel wants to know is, “If you were a character in a novel, what would be your monologue moment?” 

Nate ponders this for a moment. “I think my monologues would be deeply existential. I would be talking about the insignificance of being an individual person in a point in time in an infinite universe, and how odd that is, how remarkably strange it is. 

“And then I also love to monologue about our shared social notions about what is established fact. For example, maybe we shouldn’t have to pay for necessities like housing or food. Maybe everyone deserves to survive.” 

“I love those,” says Maribel, smiling. “But my topic of choice would be about bad writing—particularly those in TV shows, like the last season of Game of Thrones. My sister has to listen to it all the time.” 

They both laugh. 

Interlude 3

Monologues, while most commonly used in script writing—plays, movies, TV shows—can be a great way to get at character. Even if you don’t include it in your final draft, sometimes having a character go off on a tangent can be a way to learn more about them and really live in their voice. 

For example, what do we learn about Maribel and Nate here? 

• Nate is an existential guy. He also cares about social issues. 
• Maribel can appreciate those, but at heart she’s a writing snob. She also has a sister.

Additionally, we also get some humorous moments in the interaction above. Bringing humor into your dialogue is an important way to keep it interesting for the reader. Try your hand at writing a monologue for one of your characters. What do they talk about? 

Character Growth and Storytelling Through Dialogue

Maribel checks her watch and moves on to the next question. “How do you think dialogue on its own can show how a character changes over the course of the story?” 

“Did you see the movie Poor Things?” 

Maribel shakes her head. 

“In that movie, Emma Stone plays a woman from basically toddler age—in the mind—through her 20s or 30s,” Nate says. “And the dialogue in the movie does a great job of showing this. She evolves from speaking in a very childlike manner to speaking like an adult person. Her size and appearance doesn’t change, but you can tell how she’s evolving over time because of the way she speaks.” 

He goes on to give two more examples: 

• Luke Skywalker in Star Wars — While, generally speaking, Star Wars isn’t the best example of high-quality dialogue, it does demonstrate how to show character growth over time. Luke goes from a whiny, immature young man concerned with trivial problems to a zen, confident Jedi set on saving the world. The way he speaks changes subtly throughout the movies to show this. 
• Bruce Wayne as Batman — Here we have two very different personas who are the same person. The way Batman speaks is so different from Bruce Wayne as a persona even in his delivery. This serves to protect Batman’s secret identity, of course, but it also demonstrates how Bruce himself changes every time he becomes the Dark Knight. 

Dialogue As a Craft

Maribel and Nate’s conversation throughout this blog is meant to demonstrate how dialogue can be used while also highlighting that real-life conversations can spur creativity. The next time you hit writer’s block, or just need a bit of inspiration, head to a public area and give yourself time to listen and observe. Then, see what stories come from it!