How to write Dialogue

I think a good example of terrible dialogue is the live action Suicide Squad movie.
The reason it's considered so bad is because everything sounds very "typical" and low effort - there are many points where characters say things that are out of character (eg. Harley Quinn is meant to be a licensed psychiatrist but she refers to schizophrenia as "the voices" and acts really insensitive towards mental illness) or they say things that don't feel natural.

An example of good dialogue would be a movie like Fight Club, or Reservoir Dogs.
Everyone has a distinctive way of speaking and they are consistent about it. They talk like individuals and have quirks to their voices. Nothing feels forced or unnatural. In Reservoir Dogs the cast all have a conversation in a cafe at the start and you get an idea of who they are immediately. In Fight Club a lot of metaphors and repetition are used to create surreal humour. Everything that is said is both funny and creepy - it suits the mood perfectly.

Dialogue is all about conveying your character's personality - are they very reserved or are they laid back? Do they use slang or technical language? Do they use wider or smaller vocabulary? Their background and personality should be obvious in how they speak. Imagine you were to meet them in real life and think of how they'd have an ordinary every-day conversation.
How much they speak is also important - some characters will speak more often and others will be sparing with their words. Either can have a very different impact. If a character is saying a lot they might seem frenzied or hyperactive while less words can seem more measured.

Those are just a few tips - there's a lot to learn and you can learn it just by looking at media you enjoy.

Not gonna lie, most of the time when I write, I think of the dialogue first. And I imagine what that character's voice sounds like in my head. Off the top of my head, I can't tell you examples of good or bad dialogue unless I know the characters and from there can use my interpretation of their personality to gauge how they may speak and how the might tackle an issue.

I can give you an example of my own dialogue though (excerpt is a character speaking to an omnipresent being):

Akilah: "You again?"

Hey there!

Akilah: "You can understand me?""

I have a universal language thing. It's nice to meet you though.

Akilah: "Hm." [stares, mouth in a thin line, her bag tossed over her shoulder, and her free hand perched on her hip as she scans the sky for a face or feature] "..Yea. Nice t'meet ya again." [her lips quirk up into a wry smile] "Little one."

Hey I'm not little!

Akilah: [the hand perched on her hip is waved through the air dismissively, her eyes closed, smirk turning into a teasing grin] "Of course not. But I'm busy, an' talkin' to the air won' bode well for my reputation. Which I don't like havin' y'know? So, either you come down and talk like a tangible person or wait until 'm alone."

And there ya have it. If you get a certain feel from the character, glimpses of their personality in the way that they talk, then you're probably doing it right.

So Dialogue in Novels and Screenplays/Comics and similar visual story forms differ slightly.

I've only practiced dialogue for visual storytelling so my answer is geared to that, but I think it applies to any good writing.

So Dialogue is the Text of a story. Text is not the same as Subtext.

What is said and done is not necessarily what is thought and felt. And often dialogue falls flat when it appears to be and say exactly what it is about.

A scene is not about what it seems to be about. Good Dialogue is a game we play with our audience that lets them in on an inner story that's happening under the text, hence, Subtext.

This is why when i'm working on a story, I never ever ever write dialogue first. It's the very last thing that happens because dialogue is the outward text and it's limiting because it reveals so little of what's truly underneath if you start from it.

Throughout the outline and the treatment stages, the story is told through increasing description and expression of the subtext, which is what the character really wants to express. Then when it's time for the script, the dialogue flows out easily because we can make a text that will imply the subtext. Like @wumblebumarts mentioned, dialogue is about conveying your character's personality. If you know it wholly beforehand from written description of how they want to express things, choosing the right words to externally express that becomes easier.

This is a method of working from the inside out. Find out what's going on within the character will help you write what they would want to express into words they would say.

This is not to say some people can't write from the outside in, but personally it does not work for me in the least.

That said, upon the editing stage when you're going through the writing critically, Dialogue [for comics and generally] ought to:

• Be compressed and economical. Say the most you can with the least words. [Exceptions being a character known to be wordy in their speech.]
• Have direction. There shouldn't be unnecessary repetition as you move in the story beat to beat.
• and have Purpose. Each line is a step in the design to a turning point of the scene.

A key to recognizing not so good dialogue? Read it aloud. This works wonders.

For comics, it's best to never write a line of dialogue if you can visually express it. Ask yourself 'how can I write this in a purely visual way and not have to resort to a single line of dialogue?' Actions really do speak louder than words in comics.

Everything above is from my notes on Story by Robert McKee, if you're interested in comic writing I suggest giving it a good thorough read; it's helped me a lot

@SeraphicMayin

This is great! Think I might have to pick up that book I've struggled a bit so far with the balance of dialogue/visuals. I feel like I personally get a lot more out of seeing rather than reading something..."Show, don't tell." But, you have to move the plot along and visuals can't always do that effectively (at least not in a 2D format like web comics, if you're also trying to manage the actual workload of creating a ton of panels). I'd be curious to hear what you (and others in this thread) think so far of the dialogue/pacing in my own comic, and if you wouldn't mind sending me a message with your feedback? Totally up to you! (Link is in my profile). I only have 2 episodes up at the moment.

Like SeraphicMayin, I can only speak to my experiences with visual storytelling. I don't really consider myself a "writer", honestly.

Personally, I go about it like this: I write an outline of the story/chapter. What happens, how people move, where they go, what they do. Even if it's something like picking up an object and their reaction to it. What they're thinking, how they're feeling. This is more for my own knowledge, so I guess it's more like notes.

Then, I write the dialogue. Sometimes, it comes first, But only if I feel like I understand exactly what is motivating that character/characters. Sometimes I "feel" like I am the character, and the dialogue comes naturally. (Sounds cheesy, but it works for me). I also get really cheesy and act out the scenes sometimes (alone. in my bedroom. sometimes around my dog) to see if what they're saying/doing feels natural. I also try to limit "internal dialogue" (at least in comic format) because I think it's stronger to show something happening and convey a character's reactions through speech/action than a lot of thought bubbles. That's partly the reason why I prefer comics over pure writing, because I feel like visuals are such a strong vehicle for a story. And, I just don't think I'm a really "strong" writer.

Anyway, hope that helps in some way!

The best tips anyone ever gave me for writing good dialogue:
1. Say it in as FEW words as possible
2. People rarely say everything they're thinking

listen closely to how people talk irl, whether you're with family or friends or in public.

When I write dialogue I consider a couple things
-Does this conversation progress the plot or character development in anyway?
-Will this be interesting or funny to my target audience (This especially needs to be true if the first part isn't met)
-Is the dialogue written in conversational English not written English?

the goal is to meet all 3 of those things. The last bullet being an absolute necessity. Sometimes the grammar is less accurate in dialogue, sometimes there are slang words, a lot of contractions. Depending on character you may write in a dialect, or accent. A lot more ellipsis and interabangs. That sort of stuff.

When I write dialogue, I set rules for how each character speaks - what kind of language they use, how polite or blunt they are, if they use fillers like "uh" and "um". It's good to keep characters speech patterns distinct.

On top of that, I tend to write young characters, so I often base my dialogue on message logs between me and my friends, or conversations I have with people. It doesn't have to be word for word, or even have the same topic, but I pay attention to how real people react to things.
For example, a piece I'm writing at the moment has a character withholding important information from her teammates because she worries that it'd upset or anger them, and ends up venting to one of them. I based it on similar (although more mundane) interactions I've had with actual people.

You've asked an amazing question. Outside of large projects, I have never seen artists focus on dialogue. Can't imagine why, but it's nice to see someone bring it into focus.

What I've been told about dialogue is that you either have an ear for the music of it or don't. Personally, I don't.

My dialogue is a lot of time, terrible and I focus on the plot to distract from it. However, by following some simple rules I've developed over years of sucking, I managed to make it bearable.

Here's an example of rule#1: try to avoid "yes" and "no" answers" and rule#2: callback to earlier lines:

Character 1: Can you cut me down now?
Character 2: That depends. Are you gonna tell me the coordinates I need?
Ch.1: You mean hand over my only leverage? Ha! Now who's being the optimist?

Or something like that, I don't recall the exact exchange. Just try to write things and then rewrite so as to replace anything that's too obvious and dull.

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(she literally says to deadshot: "you're a textbook sociopath" and analyses him but just go off I guess)

shes still crazy her saying that does not erase all the moments before that statement or after, one moment of clarity.. and its just my opinion just like it was your opinion..no harm done

When I'm writing my dialogue I tend to read it out loud in the mind state of the character saying it. If it comes out clunky, to hard to say, or just doesn't sound like something the character would say I know to change it, or I just start talking out loud revising as I go.

Believe it or not this has been a huge help in getting my dialogue down and also giving each of my characters a unique voice. Plus, I like to act so it's fun for me to read the lines out loud as my characters