Rule 5: Use Grammar Correctly

Never be afraid to break with convention when it serves your story and your readers.

Simon spoke before Adam could: “So, you have told your mom? About the visions?”

There are editors who would want the colon replaced with a period here but your main issue is this – what effect does the punctuation have on the flow? The scene is urgent, so urgent that Simon speaks before Daniel, quickly, before Daniel can reply. Using a period would take away from that while a colon better illustrates the urgency and the uninterrupted pace.

Also, did you notice how the question marks indicate that the end of the sentence has an upward inflection? It doesn’t necessarily sound like a question so, again, your main concern is this – it isn’t always going to be a question; instead, ask yourself if you want it to sound as if it is a question.

Often, fragments of a sentence make more sense to a reader than an entire sentence in a dialog. For that reason, get rid of semicolons. They are used for complex sentences that simply wouldn’t sound as though they were natural. Instead, use periods and commas.

Rule 6: As Well As Speaking, Always Show What Your Characters Are Doing

This really isn’t necessary. More often than not, the result will be overcomplicated and too much emphasis on the smallest movements, of body language. If your character is crossing her legs, moving her chair, or brushing her hair out of her face for no real reason than to break the dialog up, you need to rewrite your scene.

The dialog should always indicate your characters’ intentions and so should their actions while they speak. When a scene says that the character folds their arms, you’ll want to know why.  Don’t add unrequired movement into a scene; instead, include only the action that is required to add to the scene.

Rule 7: Keep Speech Consistent For Each Character

Imagine this; a young lawyer with a prestigious law firm, speaking on the phone to a client. His voice will be clear, he will be articulate, his sentences are complex and he will use legal terminology. Now imagine him talking to an old friend. Is he going to talk in the same way or is his entire demeanor going to change? In a book, two conversations like this would appear to be coming from two characters because everything about the lawyer changes when he talks to a friend. He becomes more relaxed, more outgoing, uses completely different words and grammar, as well as structuring his sentences differently.

What is important is that the dialog for a character matches the scene at the time. You can't keep their dialog consistent for every situation, that isn’t real life. If, for example, you have a highly educated character that always speaks using long, impressive words regardless of the situation, your readers will get bored. Don’t let your characters get boring or become clichés. Very few people always act the same regardless of situation, moods, state of mind, goals. They all change and this is what makes your characters believable.

You don’t always need to follow the rules; sometimes it is entirely correct to go against them, depending on the context of your scene.