Tips and techniques to make every line of dialogue count
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Great dialogue is not just conversation. It is action, revelation, and conflict all at once. Yet many writers treat it as filler — a way to move the plot forward or explain backstory. Author and dialogue expert Amy Bernstein disagrees with that mindset. She argues that dialogue can be one of your sharpest tools for building character and creating tension … if you know how to use it.
Dialogue is what characters do to each other
Amy draws on a quote she loves from author Elizabeth Bowen: dialogue is what characters do to each other. Notice she did not say “say.” That word ‘do’ implies movement, intention, and consequence. Every line of dialogue carries the potential to change something between characters.
Amy says this framing shifts how writers think about scenes. Instead of asking “what should my characters say here?” ask “what are they doing to each other?” That subtle shift generates energy. It also opens the door to conflict, subtext, and surprise.
Three things every line of dialogue should reveal
Amy teaches that dialogue works hardest when it does triple duty. She also points to screenwriting teacher Robert McKee, who called dialogue “the outer result of inner action.” With both ideas in mind, every line can reveal one or more of three things: knowledge, personality, or intention.
Dialogue reveals knowledge. A composer would never describe a piece as “fast” — they would say allegro. Amy encourages writers to let characters speak from within their world. Vocabulary signals background, expertise, and lived experience.
Dialogue reveals personality. Amy offers this comparison: “I made a dinner reservation for eight. I expect to see you there — don’t disappoint me.” Versus: “I made a dinner reservation for eight. I know I’m asking a lot, but I hope you’ll be there.” Same information. Completely different people.
Dialogue reveals intention. What a character says and what a character does may not match. Amy calls that gap where tension lives. A character who says “Go, leave me, I don’t care” while gripping someone’s shoulder tells you far more than either action alone.
Action beats bring dialogue to life
Dialogue never exists in a vacuum, and Amy is emphatic about this. The action beats surrounding it — the small physical gestures between lines — shape how readers interpret the words. A character reaching across the table with a napkin reads very differently depending on who is doing it and why.
Amy illustrates this with two versions of the same scene. In one, a woman offers a napkin and says, “Slow down, Tiger. Chew, then swallow.” In another, she reaches across and says, “You have a little ketchup on your cheek — right here.” The spoken words are nearly the same. The action tells you everything about the relationship.
Her advice: let what your characters do carry as much weight as what they say.
Differentiate your characters’ voices
One of the most common dialogue problems Amy identifies is when all characters sound the same. If you cover the dialogue tags and can’t tell who is speaking, your voices need work. Characters should be as distinct on the page as they would be in a room.
Amy turns to Jane Austen to make this point. In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet talks constantly and at length. Mr. Bennet offers exactly one line: “You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.” That economy says everything. Neither character could be mistaken for the other.
Amy warns that rewriting that same scene — giving both characters equal time and a similar style — becomes exhausting. Readers notice when voices blend together, even if they can’t name the problem.
Her rule: if you have a chatterbox in the scene, make sure no one else shares that trait.
Avoid transactional small talk
Real-life conversation is full of filler. Fiction cannot afford it. Amy urges writers to avoid mundane exchanges that exist only to mimic realism. “Good morning.” “Good morning. How are you?” “Fine, thanks.” Nobody wants to read that.
Instead, Amy suggests letting action carry the weight of ordinary moments. A character slamming a cereal bowl on the counter communicates tension far more vividly than half a page of polite morning conversation. Every line of dialogue should reveal character, advance the plot, or build conflict. If it does none of those things, cut it.
Handle dialect and accent with care
Writing characters who speak differently from you is one of the trickier aspects of dialogue, and Amy addresses it directly. Trying to phonetically reproduce an accent or dialect — especially one from a community you don’t belong to — can quickly veer into caricature.
Amy’s preferred approach: let other elements of the scene do the work. Rather than distorting spelling to suggest an accent, a character might note that someone’s words reminded them of a trip to Tuscany. Another character might ask for clarification in a way that signals a language barrier. These techniques reveal character on both sides of the conversation.
Use syntax shifts sparingly
When writing a non-native English speaker, Amy acknowledges that a small shift in syntax can be effective. In a tense moment, a character’s fluency might slip and their mother tongue’s grammatical patterns might surface. However, she cautions that this technique loses its power quickly. Use it once or twice at most. Applied to every line, it becomes exhausting — and risks reducing a character to a stereotype.
When words and actions don’t align
Some of the most revealing dialogue happens when what a character says contradicts what they do. Amy calls this one of her favorite storytelling devices. It creates subtext, exposes vulnerability, and tells readers what the character cannot, or will not, say directly.
She illustrates this with a simple example. The line “Oh my God, this is like the best thing I’ve ever tasted” reads one way from a teenager eating a burger while using his sleeve as a napkin. It reads completely differently from someone who can’t stop looking at the person across the table. Same words. Different everything else.
The value of sensitivity readers
Amy also touches on a topic that matters beyond technique: writing characters whose lives differ significantly from your own. She encourages writers to approach this with intention and care. Sensitivity readers — whether professional or simply someone with lived experience in that area — can catch blind spots that even careful, well-intentioned writers miss.
This applies not just to race or culture, but to profession, geography, class, or any community you’re writing from the outside. Amy’s bottom line: every writer has the right to write about anything they choose, but that freedom comes with an obligation to be mindful about how they do it.
Put it all together
Amy’s core message is that great dialogue is a craft within a craft. It requires writers to think simultaneously about what their character knows, who they are, what they want, and what they’re doing while they speak. None of that happens by accident. It comes from deliberate choices — about word selection, sentence rhythm, action beats, and the silence between lines.
The goal, as Amy sees it, is not dialogue that sounds natural. Real conversation is repetitive, meandering, and dull. The goal is dialogue that feels natural while doing the invisible work of revealing your characters on every page.
This post was developed from a First Draft Friday conversation between dialogue expert Amy L. Bernstein and host Alessandra Torre. Watch the full 30-minute discussion on YouTube.
Marlowe can help you strengthen your dialogue
Putting these techniques into practice is easier with the right feedback. Marlowe, the A.I. analytical tool from Authors.ai, analyzes your manuscript and shows you how much dialogue you’re using and where it appears throughout your story. From there, Marlowe offers specific, actionable guidance — reminding you to vary speech patterns between characters, avoid using dialogue as an info-dump, and ensure every exchange moves the plot forward. Marlowe also covers dialogue tags and action beats, showing you how to balance the two for cleaner, more dynamic scenes. Think of it as a knowledgeable reader who catches what you might miss. Learn more about Marlowe here.
About Amy L. Bernstein
Amy L. Bernstein is a multi-genre author, dialogue expert, and former executive speechwriter with a background in playwriting and public radio reporting. Her experience writing for the voice — across stage, broadcast, and the page — shapes her approach to fiction. She is the author of The Nighthawkers, a time-traveling paranormal romance, and The Potrero Complex, a dystopian mystery thriller published by Regal House Publishing. Learn more about her books, sample chapters, and upcoming releases at amywrites.live.
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