Have you watched The Gilmore girls on Netflix? Good storylines, in a gentle sort of way, but the dialogue is fascinating. Much of it is not really dialogue at all, but rather witty declamatory statements. None the worse for that. After all, George Bernard Shaw did it all the time.
Nonetheless, good dialogue is essential, says an article in Writers Write, the online resource for creative writers.
Not only can dialogue move the plot along without the need for elaborate description, it can also give insights into a speaker’s character and above all, it can portray tension and conflict, rapidly and vividly.
The Writers Write article has five exercises to help you achieve those goals. I particularly liked this one, called Just For Fun:
Write a dialogue-only scene between two inanimate objects that are normally used or found together. Examples: pen and paper; laptop and desktop; TV show and Reality TV show; bacteria and antibiotic.
Laptop vs Desktop Example:
Laptop: You don’t know how lucky you are to just sit there all day, updating and scanning.
Desktop: Easy for you to say. I never get to go anywhere and I have to do the bulk of the work in this household. He keeps on adding memory as if I don’t have enough to think about.
Laptop: You won’t believe the disgusting places he put me down today. On a coffee shop floor. It was gross. And on his colleague’s lap – you know Dave? The one I always tell you about. OMG. It was so uncomfortable.
Desktop: Stop complaining, LT. At least you get to see things. I wonder if Dave will ever come visit?
Laptop: Believe me, you don’t want Dave here with his sticky hands and his icky breath. And he always leans in too close to the screen. It’s obscene.
Desktop: I hope he disinfected you before he put you down next to me.
If you enjoyed that, why not have a crack at the other four ‘essential exercises for writing dialogue’? Just click here for a fun way to spend a few creative minutes.
And why not learn more about the art of writing successful dialogue — and much else besides – on Jo Parfitt’s famous Writing Your Life Stories week at the Watermill? Jo, a highly experienced writer and teacher, will give you the tools to write the stories of your life in a vivid and engaging way. Among other things, you’ll discover the secret of SPICE, the seven steps to writing life stories and put this into practice right away.
Jo’s course this year is fully booked: we already taking bookings for the A yearweek. Details below. *Book before 1 September 2023 to come on this 2024 course at 2023 prices.
Jo Parfitt
21 – 28 September 2024
Writing your Life Stories
To learn more, please visit our 2024 Courses review page