《How to Write Stories People Will Love》Question 47: Dialogue arguments

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asks: How do you write an argument between two friends and keep it from sounding forced? Or even a group of people, where everyone has a different idea and no one can agree? I want to write one that develops the characters and keeps the reader interested but I keep falling into the boring and/or cliché argument style.

Arguments can be interesting to read, even when they're arguing about things that have already been argued about in a thousand other stories. It's all about the delivery.

People have certain habits and phrases that come out when they're angry. One person may remain calm and level-headed, while another tends to flail his arms and turn red-faced. They need to keep their personalities during a fight, so the whole thing doesn't sound like the same person arguing with himself.

We get agitated when we're angry. Faces contort, spit flies around, and objects get squeezed. Replacing some dialogue tags with actions help to paint a picture in the reader's mind.

There are no monologues in a heated argument. When your temper is flaring, you want your voice heard above everyone else's, and will have little patience to listen to someone else for an extended period of time. There will be lots of back-and-forth and cutting people off before they can finish their sentences. The more headstrong ones will be interrupting a lot more than the timid ones.

When there are a group of people arguing, it can get confusing. There may be a few moments when everyone tries to talk at once, but keep these to a minimum. In groups, there tend to be two or three stronger personalities. They are the opinionated ones who want to lead the group, and they will be talking more during the group argument. The quieter personalities may nod their heads in agreement, or say something here and there, but the opinionated ones will dominate the conversation because that's how they are.

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As with any other aspect of a story, things that feel forced are that way because they don't feel natural. Maybe the dialogue is stiff, or people do or say things that are out of character. A great way to avoid this is to read that part aloud. Get into character. Make the angry voices and faces. You'll start to feel how the argument should sound. When we put ourselves into the role, we become part of the "movie" playing in our heads. Word choices that disrupt the flow will stick out to you then. Certain actions may feel odd, and you can replace them with more realistic ones. You'll know what feels realistic because you are in the moment.

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