Engaging characters talk differently than you and I. They have a way of saying things, even the most mundane things, which raise them above the norm. A character’s dialogue is your opportunity to reveal character and tell us who this person is as much as what he is saying. How someone talks is character and can highlight all manner of that character’s past, inner demons, and outlook on life.

A trick: read the repartee as it goes back and forth between two or more characters. Can you tell who is speaking without seeing the name above the dialogue?

Every character must have a unique way of saying even the most mundane “Hi How are you I’m fine” kind of chat.