Three Ways to Improve Stale Dialogue

There's a couple of bird feeders out my window by my desk. All day I stare out and watch the hierarchy of birds congregate.

First, the feeders are mostly taken over by chickadees and finches. Mourning doves flutter from the trees to the ground, catching and plucking seeds and nuts cast out of the feeders. Then, the cardinals wake and they take over, scaring away all but the bravest and most camouflaged small birds. But, as we learned from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, there's always a bigger fish...I mean bird.

A giant woodpecker flutters in during the hottest part of the day and scares every bird - even the bullying cardinals. He's so big, he has to hang from the bottom of the feeder and lift his head up and around to get to the seeds.

This hierarchy is fascinating (and sometimes distracting) to watch. However, it also reveals a lot about character. The little birds line up along the bird feeder pole, waiting for an open perch. They peck at each other and squawk to get the other birds to move out of the way. Sometimes, there are even mid-air fights for perches.

Of course, you've always got your quiet mourning doves at the base of the feeders, eating contentedly from the ground.

All this witnessing of wild birds got me thinking about dialogue. It is arguably one of - if not the - most important aspect of fiction writing. Dialogue allows you to characterize your main and sub characters. It reveals setting and plot and red herrings. It can do it all -- including go horribly, horribly wrong.

If dialogue is stale and uninteresting, chances are people are going to put down your book and agents won't offer representation.

No one wants that. So, here are three ways to improve your dialogue and make it more dynamic and interesting:

1. Sub-context: Using sub-context is one of my favorite dialogue hacks. Basically, you make the conversation about what isn't said. So, your characters could be discussing a family trip they're planning, but the conversation is actually about how dysfunctional the family is and how absent the father has always been.

Ex: 
Sam: I'm glad you're actually going to make this camping trip. That's a first in, what, six years?
Dad: It's the first time you've planned something interesting.
Sam: Niagara Falls, sharp shooting practice, crystal caves - those weren't interesting?
Dad: How about we stick to the important stuff this time? A real RV. Running water that isn't from a waterfall. Being together.
Sam: If we don't kill each other before this is over.

2. Make it funny: Humor is one of those illusive but essential parts of novels. Agents always say they want it, readers crave it, but it's difficult to nail. However, humor can really punch your dialogue to the next level. Usually, it works best if one of your characters is the sarcastic one-liner. Think Han Solo in Star Wars. It keeps things interesting and gives the other characters ideas off which to springboard important plot information.

Ex:
Bodhi: I can't believe Sir Hangnon turned Minen into a pig.
Josh: It fits him.
Rocky: If only he kept the snout when he came back. It would have helped him keep his long nose out of our business. 

3. Shut your characters up: Believe it or not, there's more information conveyed by what isn't said than by what is. Readers are perceptive because this is most often the type of dialogue we experience in real life. Humans keep their emotional cards close to their chests and they rarely say everything that they mean. Your characters should do the same. So, rather than revert to stale dialogue, try having your characters emote through action.

Ex:
Hannah: See? Carving pumpkins wasn't so bad. Now we just have to do the other one for the second stoop-
Gill: I've really got to get going.
Hannah traced her fingers over the side of the pumpkin. She sighed, then laid the plastic carving tool on the table and picked up her purse.

Most importantly, never use dialogue to tell your reader anything. Dialogue is a tool meant to show, and that's when it's at its most magical. Allow your characters to speak freely, and to hold back what they might want to say instead. It allows your reader to uncover the character naturally without being told what to feel and who to believe.

It also makes the story much more interesting - think of the misconceptions that could come about from things left unsaid. Think of the mid-air fights for feeder perches. Dialogue reveals the inner most depths of a character, and when done correctly, allows for insanity to ensue.