Mini-lesson # 1

Writing Dialogue

Your goal as a playwright is to create dialogue that expresses the action and conflict of the play, encapsulates the essence of your characters, and communicates the tone of the play. Through this dialogue, the audience will also be made aware of the play’s theme.

How, then, can you create effective dialogue that “shows,” rather than “tells” the audience what is happening?

Guidelines for creating dialogue

1.  Use dialogue to communicate the basic details. Remember, one-act plays are brief. Only include information that is crucial to the progress of the plot.

2.  Use dialogue to communicate names and facts. This will make up for the lack of an exposition.

3.  Speak explicitly. Do not be vague. The audience is more likely to remember specific details over generalizations.

Example: “Ouch! Don’t touch that! That’s the bruise from where Little Billy clobbered my shin with a wooden baseball bat.” vs. “Ouch! Don’t touch that! That’s where he hit me with a bat.”

4.  Improve the following examples:

a.  “Shush! Be quiet!” (an elementary student trying to study)

b.  “Move it buster!” (a 50ish man late to work)

c.  “Repeat that please.” (a police officer)

Exercise: Using the dramatic ellipsis

In dramatic dialogue, an ellipsis represents a character’s unfinished words or thoughts.

This technique is useful when your character is lost for words or deep in thought.

Practice:

1.  “No, I do not want to go to the store. Wait. I do want to go to the store. I would love to go to the store.”

Rewrite this statement in the voice of a character who was roused from a long nap by an individual asking, “Do you want to go to the store?” Make use of the dramatic ellipsis to demonstrate the character’s sleepiness.

2.  “I’ll take this one. No, I’m sorry; I’ll take that one. Maybe I should take them both? No, that’s silly. I’ll take the first one.”

Rewrite this statement in the voice of a nervous, timid character who can’t decide between two items (you can pick what they might be).

Exercise: Diction

How does your character speak? Is she a southern belle? Is he a cab driver in the Bronx?

Is he high-class royalty? Different people speak with different diction and in various dialects. Consider the gender, class, education, and location of your characters when writing in diction.

Practice: alter the following statements to fit the character

Example: “I will come downstairs when I find my pants.”

Aging Harvard graduate: “I will join you downstairs and soon as I locate my trousers.”

1.  “I’ve dated weirder guys than you.”

British socialite: ______

2.  “I absolutely adore that movie!”

High-school football player: ______

3.  “I do not want to go to school today; school is terribly boring.”

Kindergarten student: ______

Take another look at the statements from the exercise on dialogue. How might things change if:

a.  “Shush! Be quiet!” (children playing hide and seek at the park)

b.  “Move it buster!” (an older sibling)

c.  “Repeat that please.” (a waiter/waitress)