Patron Post: Connect Your Readers to Your Story Through Dialogue and Character Thoughts

by Kristi Wright

Let’s say you have a dog. Your dog races around the yard, sniffing fences, grass, trees, and other things we’d rather she didn’t sniff. She barks at bees, at oranges, at a loud truck that rumbles past.

She bounds back to you and stares at you with soulful eyes. She yips at you. And yips again. You decide that she wants to play. You throw the ball and she retrieves it till your arm is sure to fall off and she’s panting like crazy. Finally, she gulps down a bowlful of water before collapsing with her paws crossed and her tongue lolling. She watches you. You’re sure that she thinks you’re the best person in the world. You know she’s the best dog in the universe.

It’s wonderful to have such a strong connection with a pet, to imagine—to know—that your pet loves you best. But you might wonder: Why does she bark at bees? Why does she bark at oranges? What are all the things she discovers when she goes through her sniffing routine? Does she have favorite scents? She’s never going to speak to you in your own language. She’s never going to reveal her thoughts. There are so many things you may never know about your dog, but that’s okay because you’re committed to your dog. She’s yours and you love her.

But what if you’re reading a book and you’re constantly asking yourself questions about the main character that never get answered? What if you have no idea why the character does what he does? What if the character refuses to tell you anything about himself?

If your character just does things, like a dog might do things, without revealing anything about himself via dialogue or interior thoughts, your readers might not care about that character enough to stick with him and his story. It’s up to you as a writer to get your readers to commit to your characters.

When you achieve balance between action, dialogue, and a character’s thoughts, you give your readers the opportunity to build relationships with your main characters. These relationships can deepen into life-long connections.

The right balance depends on the character. Some characters are chatty. They share their joys, their fears, their anger with anyone who will listen. These characters have no choice but to reveal who they are and how they’re reacting to the world around them through tons of dialogue. They will still have thoughts that they don’t say out loud—everyone does—but the balance will lean toward dialogue. Others refuse to share their thoughts with anyone. They’ll only speak when they absolutely must, and rarely about themselves. But they still have plenty of feelings about and reactions to the world around them. No matter how talkative or silent your characters are, your readers want to know both what their feelings and reactions are and why they are having those exact feelings and reactions. In fact, your readers don’t just want to know; they need to know!

Of course, your story also must have plenty of action. Reading about people just standing around talking and thinking is boring.

Your character wants something and will do anything to get it. You throw obstacles from every direction at her. Each obstacle is worse than the last. All that action makes your story hard to put down, but it’s only through thoughts and dialogue that you reveal your character to your readers and give them the opportunity to connect with her and, ideally, commit to her for a lifetime.

Write your fun, action-packed stories with abandon. Then balance the action with dialogue and thoughts that allow your reader to understand your characters, to relate to them, and ultimately, become friends with them . . . for life!