How to Write Dialogue in Creative Writing (AQA GCSE English Language): Revision Note
Do I need to include dialogue in my creative writing?
Dialogue can be a useful tool to develop your characters, but you can get full marks without using any direct speech in your creative writing. If you do choose to use it, you must ensure you know how to format and punctuate it correctly, and ensure it serves a purpose. Using dialogue as a “filler” because you don’t know how to move your writing on, or you are not sure what else to write, will not gain you marks.
Dialogue versus internal monologue
Both dialogue and internal monologue can help the reader get a better understanding of your character or characters. The difference between the two lies in who is communicating and how.
Dialogue | Internal monologue |
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In narrative writing, both dialogue and internal monologue can effectively enhance your story. However, they serve different purposes, and dialogue in particular needs to stick to certain conventions of form and structure.
Internal monologue (which doesn’t require complex punctuation) can therefore be a viable alternative to dialogue to develop your characters. For example:
Example | How does this help with character development? |
He stared at the invitation, fingers gripping the edges as if it might disappear. Why had they invited him? After all these years, after everything that happened… did he really think he would just show up and pretend nothing had happened? And yet, part of him wanted to go. Just to see. Just to prove to himself that he didn’t care anymore. |
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Examiners will reward variety in your writing, so avoid over-using dialogue without purpose or making an internal monologue too long or overwhelming.
How do you correctly write dialogue?
If you choose to include dialogue in your writing, there are some grammar and punctuation conventions you should follow:
Enclose spoken words in double quotation marks:
“I can’t believe you did that,” muttered Sarah.
New speaker, new line (each new speaker should have their spoken words written on a new line):
“Where are you going?” asked Lisa.
“Nowhere,” Jake replied, avoiding her gaze.
“You’re lying,” she whispered.
Commas go inside quotation marks when using a dialogue tag (such as “said” or “asked”):
“I can’t do this,” she replied.
End the dialogue tag with a full stop
Use a full stop inside the quotation marks if there is no dialogue tag:
“I can’t do this.” She turned away.
Question marks and exclamation marks stay inside the quotation marks:
“Are you serious?”
“I can’t believe you!”
How to blend dialogue and internal monologue
The following example blends both dialogue and internal monologue to develop the characters:
“You’re really leaving?” My voice was barely above a whisper. Liam hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to another. “Yeah. First thing tomorrow.”
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