Got told my dialogue sounded 'stiff' - here is what I changed

A beta reader on a forum told me my characters all sounded like they were giving press releases. Felt bad for a day, then I realized they were right. I started reading my dialogue out loud and cutting every word that felt formal. Now I write conversations like real people talk, with pauses and fragments. Anyone else get feedback that totally flipped your writing approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaronroberts15d ago

Man I used to be one of those people who thought you had to write dialogue all proper and clean. @margaretc42 nailed it with the robot comment, because that's exactly what my old writing was like. Then I got told my characters sounded like they were reading from a script and it was a gut check for sure. Now I throw in stutters, pauses and people talking over each other and it feels way more real. Stuff like "uh" and "like" actually make sense when you read it out loud.

margaretc4215d ago

Honestly, nothing like a little brutal honesty to make you realize your characters are basically robots.

blairm7715d ago

Remember that watching myself talk to people in real life and noticing how often we interrupt each other or trail off was what finally clicked for me, because we're all way more chaotic and messy than the "proper" dialogue we try to write.