Creative Writing Prompts to Help You Master Dialogue

The question “is dialogue actually that important?” when writing a book is like asking “is cocoa really that important?” when making brownies. Come on, people. Good dialogue is absolutely crucial. 

Every month, I like to share creative writing prompts centered around a particular topic. March’s topic? Dialogue. 

In this blog post, I’ll share why dialogue is important, some general rules of thumb for writing dialogue, and lastly, I’ll share some great, NO-AI creative prompts for practicing dialogue.

If you want to master dialogue in a month, just keep reading. 

Why is dialogue important?

First, great dialogue is powerfully immersive. 

Great dialogue can immerse readers in a way that normal backstory simply cannot. 

For example, imagine this premise; a stranger arrives at a small, backwoods town. He is a journalist. He wants to get information on a girl’s murder that happened in this backwoods town. The town is run by an old, rich family. Corruption runs amok and justice is never sought when the family is involved. So, the town fears them and no one will answer the journalist’s questions. 

You, as an author, have two choices to try and explain this to the reader. You can explain it through backstory or dialogue. 

Here is a backstory example: 

The journalist walked down the dusty road, the sweet smell of honeysuckle drifted with the breeze. He arrived at an old cabin and saw a light on inside, so he stepped up to the porch and knocked. When the bearded man answered, he asked the man about the girl. But the man shifted nervously. He answered some questions, but kept nodding at the journalist who thought what is this? some signal for me to “go on, get on outta this holler” So the journalist turned away, dust clinging to his suit. 

Now here is a dialogue example:

The smell of honeysuckle drifted with the wind as a journalist walked down a dusty, isolated road. He arrived at an old cabin and saw a light on inside, so he stepped up to the porch and knocked. 

“Kansas City Gazette” he waited.

He heard a shifting inside, and saw two rheumatic hands open the creaking door.

“We don’t want no trouble.” the old man said.

“Sorry to bother you,” he traced his thumb along his pursed lower lip. “It’s just…”

The eyes stared back at him, taking in his suit and the dust blowing on the road behind him.

“Well, I… that girl’s murder, a few months back? No one seems to know anything about it.”

“Don’t want no trouble.” the old man straightened up this time, and nodded his head affirmatively.

“I’m just tryin’ to get to the bottom of things.” The journalist gasped out.

“Well?” 

“Well, who was she?” 

“Don’t know nothin’.” He nodded again, and began to close the door.

“Wait, I..” the journalist slammed his palm onto the door, “...can you,”

“Don’t want no trouble with the Cliffords.” The man interrupted, nodding towards the road. 

What is this? Some signal for me to go on, to get outta this holler? The journalist thought as he turned away, dust clinging to his suit. As he walked back towards the road, he noticed a grand white mansion on a hill and a family sign that said “The Cliffords”.

Which one is more interesting to read? Faster to read? And which one will stick with you longer? Probably the dialogue one. Dialogue simply immerses readers in a scene in a way that backstory always fails to do. 

Dialogue is important because of its’ immersive power. Reading the dialogue above, we not only know that there is a problem of corruption in this small town, we can feel the tension of that corruption in the old man’s voice, in his timidity, in his affirmed nodding. And, hopefully, we began to fear for the journalist tackling this corrupt town. Dialogue sticks with readers more than backstory because it immerses.

Second, great dialogue shows more than tells while advancing the plot. 

Dialogue also advances the storyline while keeping readers immersed. With great dialogue, comes stronger reader interest. As a result, your readers (should) be on the edge of their seat with every utterance of your character. Use this to keep readers engaged and reveal major plot and pinch points within dialogue. For example, we all know that scene in The Hunger Games when Effie reads out ‘Primrose Everdeen’ and Katniss immediately reacts with silence, then by yelling ‘Prim!’ ‘Prim!’ and then, ‘I volunteer as tribute!’. You can watch the scene here.

That scene is absolutely masterful. Why? Because readers stay on the edge of their seat, involved in the action, hearing the dialogue within the setting. The story advances, but readers aren’t told that it’s advancing, rather they see and hear it in real time. How? By revealing this major plot point through dialogue. 

Imagine if Suzanne Collins had chosen to tell readers this plot point through prose or interiority rather than show it through dialogue… it would not seem as heart-breaking or important. Rather, Collins chose to show it all through dialogue, and every reader sat reading those pages on the edge of their seat. But the other advantage to showing through dialogue is that it’s something of a hat trick. When you show an immersive scene through dialogue, and hide the plot point within the dialogue itself, the plot is advanced before readers even realize that the plot is advancing. It keeps readers glued, keeps them reading, and keeps the plot rolling. It’s genius. 

So, evaluate your own writing, are there any plot points that can be revealed through wholly immersive and suspenseful dialogue? Perhaps your main character is a boy who discovers his parents are divorcing… can you reveal that through dialogue? Perhaps your main character is a warrior who just learns he accidentally killed the wrong person… can you reveal that through dialogue? Perhaps your main character is a young nomadic couple who learns their airbnb host is wanted for a crime… how can you reveal that through dialogue? These are just outlandish examples, but the point is, examine your story. Which plot or pinch points can be shown through an immersive dialogue scene? Try to write one out, see if it strengthens your story while also advancing it. 

Third, great dialogue reveals character.

Lastly, great dialogue reveals character by both words said and unsaid. Great dialogue can even reveal mountains of information about a character who is relatively unimportant. Stay with me, let me give you an example. 

Do you know the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett? It’s an absolute gem of a novel, and was really popular in the 2010s. We’ll watch a clip, but here’s some info to know before watching: a girl named Skeeter, whose mother is a classic Southern Belle battling cancer, decides she wants to tell the stories of ‘The Help’, African-American housemaids who still were working in rich white homes in the 1960s. Skeeter compiles and edits these maids’ stories. It’s a hit, but one of Skeeter’s childhood friends is really angry because she’s a horrible person and the book reveals that (plus a terrible secret about a pie). So her friend comes to Skeeter’s home and threatens Skeeter. Watch it here.

Now, in the story, Skeeter’s mother has been relatively unimportant. Until now, that is. But in less than a minute of dialogue, Stockett manages to not only make her vital but also to reveal a lot about her character. 

From these few lines of dialogue, we learn that Skeeter’s mom is a true Southern Belle, her words are smooth as honey and yet hugely insulting at the same time. But she knows the insults beneath her words, Hilly knows, Skeeter knows. So why is she still using such “polite” insults? Simple, it’s a power move. The whole scene is. Beneath the sweet-as-honey words, she’s telling Hilly (and her daughter), that even though she was born into a segregated Mississippi, she won’t necessarily defend it, but she will defend her daughter by mentioning “the pie” at every social soiree, book club, and church social she attends.  

One minute. Dialogue. A character readers didn’t really like suddenly became extremely likeable. That’s the power of well-placed, well-written, and well-crafted dialogue. In one minute, her character is thoroughly revealed, and the questions readers had about her are wholly resolved. We learn that Skeeter’s mom will absolutely defend her daughter even while sick and battling cancer, that she is a product of her time–taught to be polite, but also very skilled at giving insults through that feigned politeness, and we also see that she will “play the game” of “polite southern gossip” to keep Hilly in her place. It’s all fantastically done. Watch this scene again, and see what the dialogue reveals about each character. 

General Rules of Thumb for Writing Dialogue

-Avoid small talk at all costs, unless there is a purpose behind it. 

Generally speaking, small talk doesn’t add anything to a novel. Because of this, most editors and publishers say to avoid small talk. Readers simply don’t want to waste their time reading anything unless it adds to the plot or has purpose. Readers don’t want to see the MC making small talk with their neighbor Bob if they won’t see Bob at all for the rest of the novel, and he has no part in the plot. 

So small talk is only useful when it has purpose. For example, two characters get in an elevator, there is chemistry but neither wants to admit it.*Bam!* Then you can use small talk because it would serve the purpose of showing how they’re avoiding their true feelings. But unless small talk is serving a purpose, avoid it at all costs! 

-Similarly, make sure each word is purposeful, otherwise readers get bored. 

In the same way, the dialogue should be purposeful even when it isn’t small talk. If your character comes home, opens the door, and tells their wife about their really boring day for two pages, readers are going to drag. They’re especially going to drag if that really boring day has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. And even worse, they might lose faith in your writing ability and the story and put it down. Again, there are exceptions, but if your dialogue has no purpose, cut it out.

-Make dialogue as real-world as possible 

Story dialogue is not real world dialogue, but it should feel like it is. When we speak in real life, we end our utterances with conjunctions, we leave off the ends of sentences, we interrupt each other’s sentences, we don’t always use subjects, etc. Do your best to miimic this real world way of speaking in your story’s dialogue, because it adds authenticity. 

-Avoid talking heads.

Essentially, ‘talking heads’ is the nomenclature used when a writer has dialogue happening between two characters but readers can’t envision it because the characters are just talking, they aren’t doing anything. They are just heads talking in the air, we can’t see if the characters are sitting, standing, pacing, using their hands, fidgeting, etc. 

It is best to avoid talking heads because we don’t do ‘talking heads’ in real life; we look around as we speak, or we play with our hair, or scratch an itch, or knead bread, or pace the floor while we talk. So, be sure you’re painting the whole picture, what are your characters doing as they speak, and better yet, how does what they’re doing enhance readers’ understanding of their character?

Prompts to Practice Real-World Dialogue

Okay finally, here are some creative writing prompts for you to practice writing dialogue scenes. There are prompts to use for both your current work in progress, and also just for a daily writing exercise.

Coffee Shop Eavesdrop Exercise 

Go sit at a coffee shop, restaurant, or other public space. Open your notebook, enjoy some refreshing tea, and note down bits of conversation you hear. No need to eavesdrop or transcribe absolutely everything, but just note down bits of the conversations you hear. 

Write down the bits. Analyze them. How many are full sentences? How many can be understood without context? How many make sense on their own? How many use the local dialect? What mannerisms were they said in? Think about all of this and conceptualize it. 

Next, take those notes and re-examine dialogue in your current work. Does your story’s dialogue feel stilted, artificial? How can you change it to be more fluid, more life-like? 

If you don’t currently have a story, then take another look at your notes of dialogue. Find a little nugget of dialogue that you like, and build a new scene or situation around it.

Interview Exercise 

Ask a friend if you can interview them. Consider if they will allow you to record the interview, too. Ask them questions and record their answers. Not just what they say, but how they say it, what they emphasize, and how their body moves as they speak. Next, try to write this interview in prose. 

The News Makes me Snooze! Exercise 

Go to a news website of your choosing. Find a story that interests you. Read it. Make note of the dialogue within. In a news article, the quoted portions will likely feel stilted, matter-of-fact. Try to re-write the story and incorporate this dialogue in prose form. 

Words Left Unsaid Exercise 

Does your story have a moment where two characters are at odds? Take this situation where your characters are angry with each other, and write dialogue for them. As best you can, make every line feel emphatic, passionate, and full of weight. But especially, try to reveal their character to readers by the words left unsaid. Like that example in The Help, share something revealing between the lines of dialogue. 

Guess What! Exercise 

Next, imagine your character just got a great bit of news from an email or a letter. Who do they want to tell most? How do they tell them? What news did they get? Write the dialogue, and if you want to really challenge yourself, make the person they’re telling really distracted, not listening well. Allow that conflict to morph the conversation and slowly change the tone of the dialogue. 

Heightened Senses Exercise

Imagine your character’s best friend is blind. They have both dreamt of hiking in Yosemite since college. Your character wants to see it, the best friend wants to hear it. When they reach the top of the mountain, the best friend says “Did you hear that?” Continue their conversation.

Restrained Dialogue Exercise 

Imagine a a religious expert (i.e. a Buddhist priest, a Preacher, a Missionary, etc.) just got some bad news that makes them very emotional. Just after receiving this news, someone approached them needing help. How does the conversation go? How can you portray their true emotions while they still try to meet this person’s needs? You could also do this exercise with a mom helping her child while holding back some discouraging information she just received. 

Furthering Dialogue Exercise

In this exercise, start out with a sentence, and then re-write it 3-4 times. Each time, make the dialogue more detailed and impactful. Here’s an example: 

Dialogue: “I didn’t see him.” 

Rewrite 1: “I didn’t see him… I promise.” 

Rewrite 2: “I didn’t see him at work today.” 

Rewrite 3: “I didn’t see him in the rearview.” 

Rewrite 4: “I didn’t see him on the trail.”

After your rewrites, choose one and create an entire dialogue around this one sentence. 

I sincerely hope these prompts will prove useful to you. I will be using them myself this month. Though some of these prompts may be similar to other prompts online, such similarity is purely coincidental. I spend a lot of time reading and researching creative writing prompts every month. And I always seek to create prompts that retain the "human soul" and don't use AI. If that is important to you, then please share this post or follow me on instagram. It's greatly appreciated! Thank you!