The Surprising Connection Between Speed-Writing and Authentic Dialogue

Here's a confession from the writing trenches: I spent three months agonizing over a single conversation between two characters. Every line felt wooden. Every response seemed forced. I rewrote it seventeen times (yes, I counted), and it only got worse.

Then November came around, and I joined NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month—where writers attempt to draft 50,000 words in 30 days. With no time for my usual overthinking, something magical happened: my dialogue suddenly came alive.

Turns out, the breakneck pace of NaNoWriMo isn't just about hitting word counts. It's accidentally one of the best training grounds for writing natural, believable dialogue. Let me show you how to harness this methodology year-round.

Why Speed-Writing Unlocks Better Dialogue

The NaNoWriMo approach forces you to write approximately 1,667 words per day. At that pace, you simply can't afford to second-guess every word your characters say. And paradoxically, that's exactly what makes the dialogue work.

When you write fast, you bypass your internal editor—that critical voice that makes your characters sound like they're giving TED talks rather than having actual conversations. You tap into something more instinctive, drawing on decades of real conversations you've absorbed without even realizing it.

Your brain already knows how people talk. It's your overthinking that gets in the way.

Setting Up Your Deadline-Driven Dialogue Practice

You don't need to wait for November to use this method. Here's how to create your own dialogue-focused sprint system:

Start with manageable targets:
- Week 1: Write 500 words of pure dialogue daily
- Week 2: Increase to 750 words
- Week 3: Push to 1,000 words
- Week 4: Maintain 1,000 or try 1,250 if you're feeling ambitious

The key is consistency over perfection. You're building a practice, not polishing a manuscript.

The Core Techniques: NaNoWriMo Principles for Dialogue

Give Yourself Permission to Write Badly

This is the foundational NaNoWriMo principle, and it's absolutely crucial for dialogue. Your first draft conversations should be messy, rambling, and occasionally cringe-worthy. That's not a bug—it's a feature.

Real conversations include:
- People interrupting each other
- Incomplete sentences
- Awkward pauses
- Misunderstandings
- Topics that drift

When you're racing against a deadline, you'll naturally include these elements because you don't have time to polish them away. Later, during revision, you can trim and refine while keeping that authentic foundation.

Use Dialogue Prompts as Sprint Starters

Just like NaNoWriMo writers use plot prompts to keep moving, you can use dialogue-specific prompts to maintain momentum:

- Two characters arguing about something trivial that masks a deeper conflict
- Someone delivering bad news they've been putting off
- A conversation happening in the worst possible location
- Two people who fundamentally misunderstand each other

Set a timer for 20 minutes and write the scene without stopping. No backspacing allowed.

Embrace the "Fill in the Blank" Approach

During NaNoWriMo, many writers leave gaps in their manuscript—[CHARACTER NAME], [RESEARCH THIS], [DESCRIBE SETTING]—and keep writing. Apply this to dialogue:

"I can't believe you [SOMETHING BETRAYING]," Sarah said.

"That's not—look, it was [EXCUSE/EXPLANATION]," Tom replied.

This placeholder technique keeps you moving while signaling what emotional beat needs to happen. Often, when you return to fill in these blanks, the specific words flow naturally because you've established the emotional context.

Creating Accountability and Structure

NaNoWriMo works partly because of its built-in community and tracking systems. Replicate this for your dialogue practice:

Find an accountability partner: Share your daily dialogue scenes with one other writer. You don't need detailed critiques—just someone to confirm you did the work.

Track your progress visibly: Use a spreadsheet, app, or even a paper calendar. Mark each day you complete your dialogue sprint with a satisfying X or checkmark.

Join or create a dialogue-focused writing sprint group: Many writing communities host regular sprint sessions online. Even just knowing others are writing simultaneously creates productive pressure.

The Revision Phase: Where Speed Meets Craft

Here's where the NaNoWriMo methodology gets really powerful. Once you've written your dialogue at speed, you have raw material that sounds like actual humans talking. Now you can apply craft with surgical precision.

During revision, ask yourself:

- What can be cut? Real conversations are full of filler. Fiction needs to be tighter.
- What's being said without words? Add beats of action or description that show subtext.
- Does each character sound distinct? Read each character's dialogue separately to check for unique voice.
- Is there conflict or tension? Even friendly conversations should have some push and pull.

The crucial difference: you're refining something authentic rather than trying to manufacture authenticity from overthinking.

Making This Sustainable Beyond the Sprint

The deadline-driven approach isn't meant to be a permanent state of panic. Instead, it's a skill-building phase. After a month or two of daily dialogue sprints, you'll find that writing natural conversation becomes almost automatic.

Then you can shift to a maintenance mode:
- Weekly dialogue-only writing sessions
- Monthly sprint challenges
- Returning to intensive practice whenever you feel your dialogue getting stiff

Your Turn to Write Like You're Racing

Start tomorrow. Not next Monday, not when you feel more prepared—tomorrow. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Pick two characters (they can be from your work-in-progress or completely random) and make them talk. Don't judge, don't edit, just write.

By the end of the week, you'll have more dialogue practice than most writers complete in a month. By the end of the month, you'll wonder why your characters' conversations ever felt difficult.

The NaNoWriMo methodology teaches us that sometimes the best way to write something natural is to not give yourself time to make it unnatural. Speed isn't the enemy of quality—overthinking is.

Now stop reading about writing dialogue, and go write some.