written dialogue
Characters exchanging words
Written dialogue is the representation of speech in text—what characters say in fiction, drama, or screenplays.
The term distinguishes conversation on the page from spoken performance.
Writers craft written dialogue to sound natural while serving narrative purposes: revealing character, advancing plot, conveying information.
Her written dialogue captures how teenagers actually talk.
- quotation marksPunctuation framing cited text
- direct speechExact quoted utterance
- conversationExchange of spoken ideas
- back and forthRepeated alternating movement
- verbal sparringCompetitive witty exchange
punctuation · interaction · talking heads · script · screenplay · page to screen · spoken word · characterization · subtext · exchange · voice · character voice · repartee · speech bubbles · rhythm · diction · attribution · narrative
written dialoguenarration
Verbal account delivery
exposition · interior monologue · action sequences · stage directions · description
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