Title: Dialog Short Story
Goal: Storytelling may be the most powerful mode of human communication. Stories tell us our place in the world, explain why the sky is blue, why we have to go to work in the morning, and answer our profoundest questions about ourselves.
The economic benefits of being able to tell a good story extend far beyond the realm of writers’ rooms and the New York Times bestseller lists. In many ways, the most successful corporations of the 21st century are those which can tell the best stories about themselves. Apple is not a company that makes computers. Rather, it is a company founded by a pair of geniuses who believed in sleek design, and making the best product possible, that overcame a number of struggles to become one of the most recognized brands in the new millennium.
Furthermore, students will be writing stories in college and high school, so practicing this skill now will help them succeed at these tasks later.
This assignment takes one single piece of the story-writing which is of crucial importance: dialog. Writing with only dialog forces students to sharpen their characters, voice, and storytelling so that all can be compacted into this one single facet of the writing experience, so that when students improve their dialog, they improve all the other skills used in writing a short story.
Description: Students are to write a 300 to 500 word short story with only two characters and a plot which consists only of dialog.
Example:
Sci-fi writer Terry Bisson wrote a short story entitled, “They’re Made of Meat!” which consists of nothing but dialog.
The entirety can be found here ( but a sample follows below.
"They're made out of meat."
"Meat?"
"Meat. They're made out of meat."
"Meat?"
"There's no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They're completely meat."
"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?"
"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come from machines."
"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."
"Theymade the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made the machines."
"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they're made out of meat."
In-class, read the following
In this unit, we are working on your ability to write a short story. Short stories consist of many parts, such as plot, character, and setting. But this week, we are going to focus on only one feature of the short story genre. Genre, remember, just means type of writing. Fantasy is a genre, mystery is a genre, novels are a genre, and essays are a genre. Genre is a word you should use and know because the words you use will give you power in life.
Short stories are important because telling stories is one of the most effective modes of human communication. Stories are told over campfires, dinner tables, televisions, and computers. Whole segments of human culture revolve around different ways to tell stories. Becoming skillful at telling stories will make you a more competent and complete human being. Oh, and you will also be assigned short stories in high school and college, so practicing now will make it easier for you to succeed on those assignments later.
This week, were are focusing exclusively on dialog in the genre of the short story. Your entire story must be told by people speaking out loud, and there may be no text outside of quotation marks, other than your title and by-line. It may be no more than 500 words long, and at least 300 words long.
Now, we will read aloud an example of a short story told entirely in dialog, that of “They’re Made of Meat” by Terry Bisson.
[Students take turns reading story aloud. Ask the following questions to follow-up on the reading:
- Short stories are about conflict. What is the conflict in this short story?
- There are two characters in the short story. How would you describe them?
- Plot is what happens in the story. What happens in “They’re Made of Meat”?]
Short stories are always about conflict, have one or more characters, and have a plot where something happens. Now, take five minutes to complete the attached “Short Story Graphic Organizer” which will help you determine what your conflict is, who your characters are, and what your plot is.
[Teacher moves through class helping students with questions.]
Now, share what you have written with the partner at your table. Whoever listens should ask two to three questions about the idea for the short story you are told, and whoever is telling their idea should make a note of their answers to improve their short story. Then switch roles, and do so again. You have five minutes. Go.
[Teacher moves around the room listening and assisting as needed. When time is up, ask students to share ideas from their graphic organizer with the class.]
You now have ten minutes to begin your first draft. Begin now.
[Teacher will observe students and assist as needed.]
Your final draft is due Wednesday. Tomorrow, you should revise your work. After you believe your work has zero grammar errors, uses beautiful and precise vocabulary, and tells a story only through dialog, you should print out your current draft, along with the revision checklist. Revise your short story using the checklist, then read your short story aloud to another student, and then show her or him your text. Your evaluator must check every box, and you should fix any problems they find. Turning in a short story with a single unchecked box will result in a score of zero on this assignment.
Work hard and have a nice day!
Dialog Short Story Graphic Organizer
Name:
Complete the following graphic organizer which will help you write your Dialog Short Story.
ConflictShort stories are always about a conflict, often Person A wants something Person B has. For example, there is a short story where two people argue over getting to sit on a single chair in a park. What is your conflict?
Character
In your dialog short story, everything must be said by a character. Therefore, you shouldn’t have more than two characters, as otherwise your short story will become confusing. Who are your two characters? Are they pleasant, sad, cruel, excited, distracted, sick, hungry, or foolish? What is their relationship? Where do they stand on the conflict?
Plot
Something should happen in your short story, even if it consists of nothing but dialog. For example, the plot of “We’re Made of Meat” would be summarized as ‘Initially unbelieving aliens become convinced Earth is a planet of animals, which are gross, and therefore decide not to contact humanity.’ Remember, you only have 300 to 500 words! Keep your plot short.
Writer Self-Evaluation Checklists
To make your writing the best it can possibly be, you must complete the following checklists after writing your rough draft, but before giving your work to a peer reader and writing your final draft.
THESE CHECKLISTS ARE PASS/FAIL. ONE MISSING ELEMENT WILL RESULT IN A ZERO.
Format Checklist
Uses only dialog
Double-spaced
In 12-point font
Times New Roman font
Title
MLA formatting above the title (see attached page)
My Proofreading
There are no spelling errors
I used capital letters at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns, for names, cities, countries
I used end punctuation
I checked tenses, and do not use future and past tense in the same sentence
This short story has a conflict, only two characters, and a plot
My short story is 300 to 500 words long
My Signature: ______
Peer Listener and Reader Evaluation Checklist
After revising your own work with the above checklist, you will print out a copy and read it to a peer. Your peer will then evaluate your work with the following checklist.
There are no spelling errors
The writer uses capital letters at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns, for names, cities, countries
All punctuation is used correctly
I checked tenses so that the writer does not use future and past tense in the same sentence
This short story has a conflict, only two characters, and a plot
This short story is 300 to 500 words long
Peer Reader Signature: ______