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 to understand how both Kristi and Ashley  FEEL .

 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.