You can tell a lot about a person through what they say and how they say it. The same goes for fictional characters. The most characterization and personalization happen through dialogue because dialogue gives your characters a distinct personality. Each character has a unique voice with specific speech patterns. No one talks the exact same in real life, so your characters should each have a way of speaking that is unique to them.

The way you characterize the dialogue defines the character. Take the following dialogue as examples:

“I can’t do this anymore!” She said.

“I can’t do this anymore!” She snapped.

“I can’t do this anymore!” She whined.

The words remain the same, but the connotation of them change with the dialogue tag. “Said” is a simple dialogue tag that can remain pretty neutral; because of this, it should be used sparingly or when the dialogue isn’t meant to be as impactful. It can show a character’s nonchalance or even their bravado if “said” is used after a particularly scathing set of dialogue. “Snapped” and “whined” provide more personalization to both the character and the dialogue. It allows your audience to understand the type of person the character is meant to be. They are more impactful than “said” as they provide further context to the dialogue.

The thoughts of the narrator or protagonist may be told to the audience, but the way that the protagonist interacts with other characters concerning the plot can only be shown through dialogue. How do they decide to present themselves and their reaction to any conflict? Does it differ from what we know? This can be another way to personalize your characters. If the audience has already been told Character A knows something specific, but they tell Character B they don’t know anything, then we can already attribute traits to Character A before the plot progresses—just because the dialogue hints at it. The dialogue between two characters will also explain the conflict and why it’s a problem for everyone, not just the protagonist.

Dialogue also tells the audience the motivations of your characters. Most of the time, the audience may not be aware of what characters are thinking or plotting, so the characters usually reveal these things through their dialogue. They tell the protagonist what they want them to know. The way they say it is equally as significant. There’s a big difference between a character proclaiming or stammering over their words. And that difference is what allows the audience to recognize what you as the author want them to know about that character. Is he being shy? Is he being shady? You’re allowing him to tell us through his dialogue.

How a character is progressing throughout the plot can be shown through dialogue, as well. How is their dialogue later in the book more developed than the beginning? There’s typically growth as most characters tend to be dynamic. With this growth, the way they are presented changes, which includes their dialogue. At the beginning of the plot, maybe the character has no self-confidence, but at the end of the story, they way they talk shows the confidence they’ve gained in themselves.

Dialogue has such a strong influence on every story. It holds so much weight because it reveals a lot of information the audience cannot find out anywhere else. The dialogue will help your characters become fully fleshed out beings because their words and the way they say them will further characterize them. What your characters say shouldn’t be just fluff and filler; it is so much more important than that.