All writers, no matter the genre, need to understand the dos and don'ts when writing dialogue. To make dialogue believable and authentic, author Carolyn Howard-Johnson recommends listening to the natural way that people talk, even recording people when having casual conversations, and take good notes. She also suggests looking for published resources on writing dialogue. One of the key things to avoid when writing dialogue is the overuse of characters' names to help readers identify who is speaking.
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