I've edited hundreds of novels, and there's one thing that ruins an...
Alyssa Matesic@AlyssaMatesic
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Dec 30, 2025
~4 min read
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I've edited hundreds of novels, and there's one thing that ruins an otherwise incredible story:
Bad dialogue 🗣️
Here are the 7 biggest dialogue mistakes I see and how to revise them so your characters sound real.
Bad dialogue 🗣️
Here are the 7 biggest dialogue mistakes I see and how to revise them so your characters sound real.
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1️⃣ Talking Heads
This happens when your dialogue takes up the entirety of the page. There’s nothing else going on besides the dialogue — no action, no reflection. It’s essentially floating voices.
But when dialogue exists in a vacuum like this, it’s hard to keep the reader engaged and immersed in the scene.
Because what your characters are saying is really only 50% of everything that’s actually going on in a scene. You need to include beats of physical action and narrative reflection from your POV character to fill in the other 50%.
Without those emotional anchors, your reader won’t know how to interpret the conversation.
The easiest way to avoid talking heads is to make sure we don’t lose connection to the POV character’s mind throughout every dialogue exchange.
Make sure to show us how they’re externally and internally reacting to everything that’s being said.
This happens when your dialogue takes up the entirety of the page. There’s nothing else going on besides the dialogue — no action, no reflection. It’s essentially floating voices.
But when dialogue exists in a vacuum like this, it’s hard to keep the reader engaged and immersed in the scene.
Because what your characters are saying is really only 50% of everything that’s actually going on in a scene. You need to include beats of physical action and narrative reflection from your POV character to fill in the other 50%.
Without those emotional anchors, your reader won’t know how to interpret the conversation.
The easiest way to avoid talking heads is to make sure we don’t lose connection to the POV character’s mind throughout every dialogue exchange.
Make sure to show us how they’re externally and internally reacting to everything that’s being said.
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2️⃣ Name Dropping
When you’re speaking face to face with someone, how often do you say their name aloud?
Probably not that frequently. Certainly not in every sentence.
So why do characters do this ALL the time?
Your characters CAN definitely say the other’s name, but should only do it intentionally, such as when they need to grab attention or shift their tone.
When you’re speaking face to face with someone, how often do you say their name aloud?
Probably not that frequently. Certainly not in every sentence.
So why do characters do this ALL the time?
Your characters CAN definitely say the other’s name, but should only do it intentionally, such as when they need to grab attention or shift their tone.
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3️⃣ “As You Know, Bob”
This is where characters explain things to each other just so the reader can overhear. It’s essentially a sneaky form of info-dumping, and it’ll immediately make your dialogue sound unnatural and forced.
To spot this issue in your manuscript, ask: Would this character actually say this to the other person? You might be doing this even if you aren’t literally using the phrase “as you know.”
The bottom line: if both characters already know the information, there’s no reason to say it out loud.
Instead, weave the exposition naturally into the scene.
This is where characters explain things to each other just so the reader can overhear. It’s essentially a sneaky form of info-dumping, and it’ll immediately make your dialogue sound unnatural and forced.
To spot this issue in your manuscript, ask: Would this character actually say this to the other person? You might be doing this even if you aren’t literally using the phrase “as you know.”
The bottom line: if both characters already know the information, there’s no reason to say it out loud.
Instead, weave the exposition naturally into the scene.
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4️⃣ Melodrama
It’s true that you want dialogue to convey your characters’ emotional states, but if you overdo it, you’re actually going to LESSEN the impact.
When your characters’ reactions are too overblown, too over the top, and too dramatic, they read as inauthentic and superficial.
It’s totally fine to have dramatic moments and splashy confrontations in your story, but remember that you can convey tension between your characters without screaming matches. Oftentimes, taking a subtle approach will be even MORE powerful.
It’s true that you want dialogue to convey your characters’ emotional states, but if you overdo it, you’re actually going to LESSEN the impact.
When your characters’ reactions are too overblown, too over the top, and too dramatic, they read as inauthentic and superficial.
It’s totally fine to have dramatic moments and splashy confrontations in your story, but remember that you can convey tension between your characters without screaming matches. Oftentimes, taking a subtle approach will be even MORE powerful.
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5️⃣ Too Many Dialogue Tags
Dialogue tags are how you tell the reader who’s saying what. Most commonly, you’ll use “she said” or “he said.”
With dialogue tags, a little goes a long way. But some writers go overboard and include a tag after every single line.
Too many tags will start to become distracting and clog up your scene. You only need to sprinkle them in, especially if you just have two people talking.
And remember that you don’t have to be overly creative with your tags.
Tags like “said” or “asked” tend to be invisible to the reader, as we gloss over them. But when you start to use different tags to convey the character’s tone, it’ll stick out to the reader. I’m not saying never use them, but do so sparingly.
Dialogue tags are how you tell the reader who’s saying what. Most commonly, you’ll use “she said” or “he said.”
With dialogue tags, a little goes a long way. But some writers go overboard and include a tag after every single line.
Too many tags will start to become distracting and clog up your scene. You only need to sprinkle them in, especially if you just have two people talking.
And remember that you don’t have to be overly creative with your tags.
Tags like “said” or “asked” tend to be invisible to the reader, as we gloss over them. But when you start to use different tags to convey the character’s tone, it’ll stick out to the reader. I’m not saying never use them, but do so sparingly.
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6️⃣ Filler conversations
Dialogue should be realistic, yes, but that doesn’t mean you need to include every mundane interaction your character has throughout their day.
Many conversations we have don’t actually matter, but the second you put them on the page, you’re telling the reader to pay attention to them. So make sure that attention is warranted.
It’s OK to paraphrase and summarize the less-important parts of the story.
Small talk is a big offender here — you can have a little bit if it’s illustrating a dynamic between your characters, but don’t include it if it’s doing nothing.
If you have filler dialogue or even an entire filler scene, either cut it or rework it so that it reveals something about a character, develops conflict, or advances the plot in some way.
Every line of dialogue should contribute to the story.
Dialogue should be realistic, yes, but that doesn’t mean you need to include every mundane interaction your character has throughout their day.
Many conversations we have don’t actually matter, but the second you put them on the page, you’re telling the reader to pay attention to them. So make sure that attention is warranted.
It’s OK to paraphrase and summarize the less-important parts of the story.
Small talk is a big offender here — you can have a little bit if it’s illustrating a dynamic between your characters, but don’t include it if it’s doing nothing.
If you have filler dialogue or even an entire filler scene, either cut it or rework it so that it reveals something about a character, develops conflict, or advances the plot in some way.
Every line of dialogue should contribute to the story.
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7️⃣ Messy Formatting
With dialogue, proper formatting is everything. If you’re at all confused about formatting or punctuation rules, brush up on them now, because messy dialogue is not just frustrating to read, but makes it very difficult to follow your story.
Here are the most common formatting issues:
👉 Inconsistency between double quotes and single quotes
👉Punctuation outside the quotes rather than inside
👉Dialogue tags within the quotes
👉No paragraph breaks when the speaker changes
👉Inconsistent capitalization
With dialogue, proper formatting is everything. If you’re at all confused about formatting or punctuation rules, brush up on them now, because messy dialogue is not just frustrating to read, but makes it very difficult to follow your story.
Here are the most common formatting issues:
👉 Inconsistency between double quotes and single quotes
👉Punctuation outside the quotes rather than inside
👉Dialogue tags within the quotes
👉No paragraph breaks when the speaker changes
👉Inconsistent capitalization
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For many authors, dialogue is the hardest thing to write. Have you had struggles with writing dialogue? What were they?
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Once you've nailed your dialogue, check your manuscript against the most common plot mistakes I see in manuscripts: youtu.be/0afII_yZ6cY
