prokopetz: Expository dialogue techniques that don’t rely on characters randomly explaining things to each other that they should already know, but do rely on your characters being obnoxious gits: 1. Character A fucks something up hilariously; character B upbraids them at great length about exactly what they did wrong. 2. Character A wildly misreads a…
Read morePRO TIP #887971
When writing dialogue in a screenplay, it’s easy to keep your mind and the script working visually by using non-verbal responses to show-not-tell. You don’t need dialogue to convey information. Behold:
Read moreThe 7 Deadly Dialogue Sins
The 7 Deadly Dialogue Sins justanotheridijiton: 1. Obvious exposition. Husband: “Darling, how long have we been married now?” Wife: “Silly, it’s been 20 years. Remember Hawaii – the North Shore?” Husband: “Oh yeah, that little honeymoon cottage.” When your characters seem to be speaking more to the audience than to each other, you are being…
Read morecreativecalico: aqueousserenade: coledownlow: I love this quote. I love this movie. This scene impressed me so much when I first saw it. It still fills me with… idk something. I love it. The first time I truly understood this scene I was filled with a terrifying understanding. Writer friends: File under How to Dialogue
Read moretimbllr: via weheartit Writer friends: File under Ways to Subtext.
Read morefixyourwritinghabits: jakkuine: trying to steer dialogue towards a certain plot point while trying to make it sound natural The struggle is real. This is literally why I am on this ridiculous website at this moment.
Read moreTFW You Slip All Your Sexy Research into Dialogue…
It can’t be done. If it doesn’t serve a plot, thematic or character development purpose, there’s no smooth way to show off everything you learned in casual conversation. So you can use research to setup/solve a problem, tell a joke or allude to your theme. Otherwise, it’s yours to keep.
Read morePro Tip: Cut Half Your Dialogue
”But…my dialogue is…”
Read moreWit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words. Dorothy Parker, The Art of Fiction No. 13 (via theparisreview) Dorothy Parker explains why quippy screenplay dialogue is exhausting.
Read more“Speaking of…”
When you use this dialogue transition as a cheap shortcut to lay out some exposition for me, I turn right into Alison Hendrix. It’s such a bad technique that I lose confidence in the rest of your script. It tells me that for you, dialogue is how the reader finds out about the plot ahead…
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