What is Dialogue?

It's the conversation that takes place between characters in a story.

You can tell more about your characters' thoughts and  feelings if you include dialogue in your stories.

Let's look at a story without dialogue.

      Sharing a room with her sister wasn't always fun.  Kristi was tired of always cleaning up after her sister Ashley. Just because they shared a room, that doesn't mean they had to share the mess!  Ashley was always leaving dirty dishes on her desk, and there were always dirty clothes under the bed.  Kristi had tried to talk to Ashley about cleaning up the mess, but somehow talking didn't help.

Let's add some dialogue to that story.

           Sharing a room with her sister
 wasn't always fun.  Kristi was tired
 of always having to clean up their
 room.
      "Ashley, you've left your clothes
 on the floor again!  I'm not picking
 them up for you this time," said
 Kristi. 
       "I'm sorry, Kristi, I don't mean
 to be a slob!" joked Ashley.  "I just
 don't notice the mess--really!  I
 guess it just doesn't bother me."
      "Well, it bothers me!  You know it
 does," said Kristi.
      "I'll try harder, I guess," sighed
 Ashley.  "But I can't promise
 anything. Neatness just isn't my
 thing!"

Your audience will have a better understanding of Kristi and Ashley after reading the conversation that takes place between them.   
It's more interesting to read...AND...it helps you understand how both Kristi and Ashleyfeel .

 Dialogue lets you tell so much more
about your characters.

  It allows your readers to understand your characters more too.

       When writing dialogue you must
               remember to:

• Use Quotation Marks.
• Identify who is speaking.
• Indent each time the speaker changes.
• Use commas correctly.