I’ve been building up to this point. I wrote an article on how to use dialogue in games, how to make it interesting, and how to develop a character. Now lets sink our teeth into the meat of the issue. How to make characters talk.

In the improvement article, I wrote a list of 7 tips. Really, all it takes is practice. The best thing to do is observe what has been done before in film, animation, plays and other games.

If you bothered to develop a character deeply enough how they talk should come easily to you, despite how different they may be from you. Despite my female gender, I do not find it difficult to write as a male.

To help you out, here’s some things I consider when writing someone vastly different from me.

-Nuances in Speech-
Females: Talk more, express feelings and emotions more readily than males, consider double meanings, pick up on visual and audio cues more readily, use more adjectives, describe things with superlative detail. Use terms “so”, “very”, and “like” often.

Males: Are more Vocal, express ideas and concepts more readily than females, do not always pick up on visual/audio cues, take what is said at face value, describe things only as needed, more likely to swear, do express emotions although not always openly

These are generalizations that have been observed. In online writing you can spot generally female writing from male. It is perfectly fine to use a generalization to base your writing off of. But it’s better to use a specific example.
There are effeminate Males who are still straight. Same goes for masculine females.


-Suggested Tricks-
Read your lines out loud! Your ear is your best tool to writing dialogue. If it sounds forced, generic, or unnatural then that's probably what it is.

The only way you’re going to write good, believable dialogue is if you observe others and develop your character.
Read the character development article, but also observe people around you.

People watch at the mall/school cafeteria/after religious services
Eavesdrop on cell phone conversations
Observe your own family members

Listen carefully to how they talk. What tone are they using? What kind of vocabulary do they use? Are they formal or informal? How do they express emotion or feeling?

Animations are a great source for observation too. They are caricatures but useful for unobtrusive observation.
Movies tend to cover things more realistically. It depends on what you’re going for in your game.

Read a Film Script or Play script. This will help you see how the writing was interpreted visually.
//end
(Some specific tips for writing believable character dialogue.)