How AI sees dialogue problems

AI models detect patterns across large corpora, so they flag features that statistically differ from strong, varied dialogue. Typical signals include repetitive sentence length, neutral register, low action density, overuse of tags or adverbs, lack of subtext, and identical speech patterns across multiple characters. AI excels at quantitative tasks—counting filler words, measuring sentence-length variance, identifying passive construction, and listing common phrases—but it lacks full access to the lived logic behind choices that give dialogue meaning.

Common weak-dialogue patterns AI will flag

• Tone leveling where distinct characters sound the same.
• Dialogue that tells rather than shows, using expository statements to deliver backstory.
• On-the-nose lines that state character feelings explicitly instead of implying them.
• Excessive dialogue tags and adverb modifiers that clutter lines.
• Repetitive vocabulary or catchphrases that become distracting.
• Lack of subtext where everything is stated plainly and nothing is implied.
• Passive or abstract verbs that remove agency from speakers.
• Long, uninterrupted speech when a scene demands snappier exchanges.

Interpreting AI diagnostics effectively

Treat AI output as a map, not a mandate. When AI flags a line or pattern, ask what narrative function the line serves. Does it reveal need, conceal motive, create tension, or delay revelation? Use AI metrics—sentence length distribution, tag/adverb frequency, and vocabulary overlap—to prioritize revision targets. Combine AI’s quantitative read with your qualitative judgment about character psychology, scene purpose, and pacing.

Workflow to diagnose and strengthen dialogue

1. Backup your manuscript and isolate the scene or chapter you want to audit.
2. Run a dialogue distinctiveness scan: list each speaking character, average sentence length, common words/phrases, and tag/adverb counts.
3. Review AI-flagged lines and annotate the narrative purpose of each: exposition, beat, reveal, misdirection, or levity.
4. Prioritize fixes where dialogue is responsible for advancing plot or revealing character.
5. Use voice-preserving prompts to generate alternatives, requesting multiple variants: terse, evasive, sarcastic, or overheard.
6. Replace or adapt AI suggestions selectively, keeping the best lines and discarding anything that flattens voice.
7. Do a read-aloud pass focusing on rhythm and how lines sound when performed by different characters.
8. Re-run the distinctiveness scan to confirm improved separation between characters and cleaner tag usage.

Line-level tactics to make dialogue stronger

• Swap expository dialogue for action beats that reveal information indirectly.
• Trim dialogue tags; rely on beats and what a character does to indicate who’s speaking.
• Replace adverbs like “said angrily” with a short physical beat or a sharper line.
• Vary sentence length by pairing short retorts with longer explanatory lines to create rhythm.
• Insert contradictory subtext: let a character say one thing while gestures or internal thought show otherwise.
• Give each character a small lexical palette: two or three favored words or metaphors that hint at background and class.
• Use interruptions, false starts, and unfinished sentences to heighten realism and tension.

Scene-level strategies to amplify conversation

• Clarify the scene’s visible goal for each character and ensure lines probe or block those goals.
• Charge dialogue with stakes: what is lost if the line succeeds or fails?
• Layer information: surface conflict, then emotional subtext, then backstory in small doses over the scene.
• Use silence and beats as punctuation; scenes with measured pauses often read as more alive than nonstop talk.
• Ensure pivots in the scene are marked by a line that reframes the stakes or forces a decision.

Prompts and templates to use with AI safely

• Distinctiveness scan template “List each speaking character in this excerpt with average sentence length, three most common words, and the count of dialogue tags and adverbs per character. Highlight characters whose speech metrics overlap most.”
• Subtext-first rewrite template “Rewrite this dialogue preserving the same beats but add subtext that suggests [conflict or secret]. Keep lines short and varied and produce three variant tones: sarcastic, evasive, and vulnerable.” (I found this suggestion online, but personally I wouldn’t use the AI to write like this cause it generates a load of ****.)
• Tag reduction prompt “Suggest edits that remove dialogue tags and replace them with beats or actions. For each removed tag provide the proposed action and a one-sentence rationale.” (Or you could just get it to highlight these instances and do the rewriting yourself, much safer.)
• Exposition-to-action conversion “Transform this expository exchange into a scene where the same information is revealed through action and reaction, keeping the emotional outcome identical.” (Try it to see what outputs you get, but will require proper author rewriting)

Examples of prompt outputs to expect

AI may propose shorter retorts, new physical beats, and different verbs that increase agency. It might suggest specific sensory cues tied to a character’s background (e.g., a fisher’s calloused hand on a radio). It will propose variants aimed at different tones; you choose which aligns with character and scene. It might also introduce overuse imagery, and unimaginative verbs and beats. But seeing what it does, you can then improve on it vastly.

When to ignore or constrain AI suggestions

• When dialogue intentionally breaks grammar or uses nonstandard dialect for characterization.
• When experimental or stylized dialogue structures are part of the aesthetic.
• When sensitive cultural topics require expert guidance or a sensitivity reader rather than automated tweaks.

Quick checklist before accepting AI changes

• Does the line preserve the character’s motive and social position?
• Would the line still read as authentic when spoken aloud by that character?
• Does the edit remove necessary subtext or nuance?
• Are tags and beats used to reveal action rather than explain tone?
• Have you preserved signature phrases and lexical fingerprints for each character?
• Does it match your voice as an author?

Final words

AI excels at pointing out conversational weakness and offering practical alternatives, but it cannot replace the author’s intuition about subtext, motive, and voice. Use AI to detect patterns, propose variants, and trim clutter, then apply human judgment to choose the lines that advance character and conflict. When used with careful prompts and a human-in-the-loop workflow, AI becomes a fast, tactical tool that helps dialogue sing rather than speak plainly.

About Emma

As an introvert haunting the corners of storytelling festivals, it’s incredibly difficult to track Emma down. She’s best known for writing Scottish fiction about working-class women and communities and their misrepresented lives. You can find her recent book The Secret Cult of the Miners’ Library here. Or get writing help here.

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With that said, here are some tools that can help improve your writing. None of them is Grammarly because here is a recent Grammarly review on Trustpilot:

As you can see, the software does not help to improve writing skills. To improve your writing avoid Grammarly, hire a trusted proofreader and/or check out these books on style. I have avoided grammar-heavy books and focused instead on readability.

A Pocket Style Manual

Diana Hacker

For someone who wants a quick hack of the basics or want a quick reminder about how to reference.

Stronger Writing Skills for Teens: Modes, Methods, and Materials That Work

Gregory Berry

Easy to read with separate chapters on argument and research writing.

Stylish academic writing

Helen Sword

Good illustration of different writing styles in academic work. With lots of examples to demonstrate that clear and concise writing is a joy to read.

Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students

Stephen Bailey

Specially written for oversees students.

Aditionally, check out this article about cutting unecessary words from your writing.

Who is Emma Parfitt?

Emma Parfitt is a proofreader with 18 years of writing experience with businesses, academics and creative writers. She obtained a Creative Writing MA (St Andrews University) and a PhD in Storytelling (Warwick University). Then set up her own proofreading business and became a published author of fiction as well as academic literature such as Young People, Learning & Storytelling (Palgrave Macmillan).

L’article Writing Skills est apparu en premier sur Emma Parfitt Proofreading Editing Services.

Communication is a general phenomena. Wherever life exists, communication also exists. You cannot have human relation without communication. However, good and effective communication is essential not only for good human relations but also for excellent and successful business. If we talk about the professional world, what professionals do more than anything else is communication—with different types of people and above all with their own staff.

(Dr R. Gupta)

Why are business communication skills important? According to Dr Rashmi Gupta (2019), great communication is important in the workplace for the following reasons:

• It affects a company’s reputation and credibility;
• Enables the creation of strong partnerships with clients, as well as between and within teams;
• Ensures businesses understand client needs and address them;
• And promotes products or services.

Of course, to write professional business documents and other forms of business communications (websites, social media posts, etc.) requires English skills: grammar, spelling, punctuation, and a little flare. One way to improve communication skills to benefit your business is to hire a proofreader or copyeditor on a long-term basis. By doing so you can negotiate a yearly, quarterly or monthly rate, to cover your exact needs.

Interested in communication skills? You might be interested in this blog article.

What skills does a proofreader bring?

Writers know how to talk to people. In other words, how to organize the structure of your communications so that you reveal the information that’s most important to your audience and in an easy-to-read manner.

A fresh set of eyes can challenge assumptions and check any business document communicates what you want it to.

Proofreaders are used to solving language problems. Rather than sweat over those colons and semi-colons, hiring an expert will save you time and ensure correct punctuation and consistency throughout a big report.

Finally, communication separates a good business from a great one like yours, so get in touch today.

Who is Emma?

Emma is a proofreader with 18 years of writing experience with businesses, academics and creative writers. She obtained a Creative Writing MA (St Andrews University) and a PhD in Storytelling (Warwick University). Then set up her own proofreading business and became a published author of fiction as well as academic literature such as Young People, Learning & Storytelling (Palgrave Macmillan).

Reference

GUPTA, Dr Rashmi. Effective Business Communication Skills for Professional Excellence. IJELLH (International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities), [S.l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 10, Feb. 2019. ISSN 2321-7065. Available at: <https://www.academia.edu/43478912/Effective_Business_Communication_Skills_for_Professional_Excellence>. Date accessed: 12 Apr. 2019.

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Universities place a lot of emphasis on impact. So, if you want to become an academic, impact is everything. A journal article by Freeling,  Doubleday, and Connell (2019) states:

“Peer-reviewed articles are the currency of science. They create knowledge and enable discovery. Despite this fundamental role, peer-reviewed articles tend to be written in a dry, dense, and impersonal style that can be challenging to read and understand (1–4). There are many potential benefits for writing in a more accessible style, from promoting much-needed communication among disciplines to making science more accessible to a broader community (5, 6). But good writing takes time for both the author who writes it and the institutions that teach it. So, is there really any benefit to writing better? We believe there is, and we believe our preliminary research underscores that conclusion.”

Better text increases a paper’s reach

“Is there a benefit to writing better? Our model suggests that increases in clarity, narrative structure, and creativity could translate to a boost in citations. Interestingly, an increase in citations was related to journal influence so that researchers publishing in broader journals had a greater increase in citations (impact factor 12, 74%) compared with researchers publishing in local or specific journals (impact factor 3, 26%). This suggests that the traditional style of scientific writing appears to restrain citations, but clarity, creativity, and narrative could remove this restraint and maximize citations.”

To have your journal article read by a native-English speaker please get in touch.

Continue reading the article here…

In terms of productivity: to get pucblished you have to write. In her book How to Write A Lot, author Paula Sylvia suggests that many academics struggle to finish pieces of writing that they have started, including grant proposals inside a frantic academic schedule. The solution to writing it all while still having a life?

She provides some tips such as setting up a writing group (for motivation), and selecting focused time (even if you just have 15 mintues) on book, journal article and grant writing. Designating short bursts of time can focus the mind. She also gives tips about each of these different kinds of texts.

Who is Emma Parfitt?

Emma Parfitt is a proofreader with 18 years of writing experience with businesses, academics and creative writers. She obtained a Creative Writing MA (St Andrews University) and a PhD in Storytelling (Warwick University). Then set up her own proofreading business and became a published author of fiction as well as academic literature such as Young People, Learning & Storytelling (Palgrave Macmillan). Her latest book is A Friendship of Thistles based on a friendship in Edinburgh, Scotland, during lockdown/Covid.

Get in touch for all proofreading services here!

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