Why Your Dialogue Sounds Fake and how to Fix It Instantly

Want more insider tips, tools, and guidance? Subscribe to my FREE Writing Mentor Newsletter and get expert advice delivered straight to your inbox plus the Agent Query letter that won me 3 agent offers

Why Your Dialogue Sounds Flat and how to Fix It Instantly

Some great news last week as my agent came back with a resounding yes on her desire to represent my new manuscript. I'm now awaiting her edits and once I've finished those, we can get the book out on submission to publishers in the next few months. See what I mean about this being a long game with lots of waiting?

Today, I want to talk about dialogue. I love writing it and regularly get complimented on it by publishing industry professionals. It wasn’t always my thing, but then I got out of my own head and started actively listening to the people around me and how they speak. I really try to drop my own perceptions of what other people are saying and the habit of half listening while half plotting my response, and just listen. Learning to be an active listener is challenging, and I’m no expert but in at least trying, I hope it’s made me a nicer person, while also helping me to write more believable dialogue.

Have you ever reread a scene you wrote and cringed because your characters sound like robots or bad soap opera actors?

You’re not alone. Writing believable dialogue is one of the hardest skills for fiction writers to master. It’s also one of the quickest ways to lose a reader if you get it wrong. Stiff, unnatural conversation yanks readers out of your story faster than a plot hole the size of Russia.

The good news? You can fix it.

Here are 5 instant tricks to make your dialogue sound natural, compelling, and alive.

1. Listen to Real People Talk, But Don’t Copy Them Exactly

Many writers either make dialogue too perfect with only full sentences and no interruptions, or try to replicate real speech word-for-word, resulting in long, rambling exchanges.

To combat this, eavesdrop in a coffee shop, on public transport, or even in films and TV programmes with sharp dialogue (Your Friends and Neighbours has the best dialogue I've heard in a long time, and Jon Hamm, so it’s a win, win watch). Notice how people speak in fragments, interrupt each other, and rarely use full sentences. Then, capture the essence of real speech, not the mess of it. Trim the filler words like eh, you know, and like, unless they reveal something about the character.

2. Cut the Small Talk

You want your characters to feel real, so you add greetings, chit-chat, and weather updates. But in fiction, these are speed bumps.

Instead, jump straight into the heart of the conversation. If you want to talk about a character’s life-changing day at work, don’t start with the character saying, ‘I had the most awful day at work’, or ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me at work today? Get straight in there with, ‘My boss threatened to fire me today.’

3. Give Each Character a Distinct Voice

If all your characters sound the same, readers can’t tell who’s talking without the dialogue tags.

Try to develop individual speech patterns. One character might use short, clipped sentences. Another might ramble or use vivid metaphors. Consider vocabulary, rhythm, and even grammar quirks. Ask yourself, Would I know who’s speaking if I covered the name? If the answer’s no, it’s time to differentiate.

4. Use Action Beats Instead of Endless Said Tags

‘I can’t believe you did that,’ she said.

‘Well, you left me no choice,’ he said.

‘That’s ridiculous,’ she said.

This is my absolute bug-bear. Why not replace some tags with action beats, short bits of movement or description that show what the character is doing while speaking. For example:

‘I can’t believe you did that.’ She slammed the drawer shut.

‘Well, you left me no choice.’ He leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

This adds texture and gives the reader visual cues without overloading on tags.

5. Read Your Dialogue Out Loud

What looks fine on the page can feel painfully stilted when spoken, and I regularly cite this as one of the best writing tips I’ve ever been gifted.

Read every conversation out loud, even if it makes you feel silly. If you trip over a line or feel yourself thinking, No one would say that, you’ve found a spot to rework. This is the single fastest way to detect unnatural phrasing. Bonus: record yourself and play it back. You’ll hear the flaws instantly.

Believable dialogue isn’t about copying real conversations, it’s about creating the illusion of real conversations while still driving your story forward. If your dialogue feels flat, start with these quick fixes:

Capture the essence of real speech, not every filler word.
Skip small talk and go straight to the conflict.
Give each character a distinct voice.
Break up dialogue with action beats.
Read it out loud to hear the flaws.

Master these, and your characters will start sounding like real, live people your readers will care about.

Still Not Convinced?