Every writer faces the challenge of writing engaging dialogue. Conversations in your story take it forward, explain many facts , bring out the speakers’ emotions and in general determine the pace of the story. Long winded conversations can put off the reader. Very cryptic ones can confuse them. How does one then write a great dialogue?
Nathan Bransford is a leading literary agent with a huge following. Check out his tips in” Seven Keys To Writing Good Dialogue“. By way of a terrific summary, he says “Great dialogue can make the novel sing. Bad dialogue makes it sink like a stone”!
However great that line sounds, however punchy it might seem, ask your self – would my character speak like that? If he does, great- go ahead and use that line. If he doesn’t- save it for someone else!
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 