In simple terms, dialogue is when two or more characters talk to one another. It’s a compressed way to advance your story. And an economical way to define characters and their relationships to one another.
But dialogue is one of the trickiest elements to master. It’s not a transcript of the way humans really speak.
It’s shaped, concise, and concentrated. We want it to sound real, but without all the boring, tedious, insignificant parts.
In this episode, you’ll get 5 writing exercises to help you master dialogue.
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Episode at a glance:
[02:22] 3 Common Dialogue Problems
These include mundane dialogue, expository dialogue, and tedious dialogue.
[04:02] Exercise 1: Secrets
Write a dialogue scene between two people who are keeping a secret from one another. Neither character reveals the secret to the other. Don’t reveal the secret to the reader.
The objective is to create tension and suspense from what the characters are not saying.
[08:00] Exercise 2: Battle For Position
Act this out with a fellow writer:
Make up a situation involving two people who disagree about something. For example, two friends have planned to steal something and one of them chickens out last minute. Or a tenant and landlord disagree about the terms of a lease.
Next, record your dialogue as you act out the scene. Then transcribe the dialogue said, word for word.
Read over the transcribed dialogue. Then rewrite it, cutting it down to its most salient parts. Ask yourself: how much of the original dialogue is useful for your story? How much can you summarize? Cut? Are there any lines you want to keep?
The objective is to train your writer’s ear to transform actual speech into carefully crafted dialogue.
[14:13] Exercise 3: Verbal Dance
Write a dialogue between two people who know each other, each taking the opposite side of an issue or problem.
For example, whether to blow 2 months salary on a vacation to Greece, or put that money in the savings account. It should be something immediate and particular. And emotionally close to both characters. But this is not a fight.
The objective is to learn to use dialogue to reveal character and human dynamics.
[20:37] Exercise 4: The Twizzler Effect
Write a scene in which a character’s body and mind is engaged in doing something.
For example, if a couple is breaking up, they’re getting ready to go to bed: she’s brushing her teeth, he’s hanging up his clothes. They’re having a conversation while involved in some activity.
The objective is explore how various activities and settings can change what happens within a scene.
[26:14] Exercise 5: Indirect Dialogue
First, look at a dialogue scene from a book you admire. Find where the summarized dialogue is versus the spoken dialogue. Then go to a scene of dialogue from your own story. Look at where you can summarize the dialogue rather than give the entire exchange.
The objective is to see how summarized dialogue affects the shape and pace of a scene.
Links mentioned in this episode:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life When You’re the F-ing Worst by Laura Belgray
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls
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