Realistic Dialogue Critics often focus on the realism of dialogue. The truth is though that good dialogue is not at all like a real life conversation. Dialogue is much more sharp and to the point. Movies are action orientated, if you want to write a dialogue loaded piece then a play is the medium for that. You want to think of dialogue as edited speech, like two friends talking with all the extraneous and unnecessary parts taken out. No umm-ing and ahh-ing, and no rambling. Dialogue should be like a good conversation, everyone makes their point quickly and succinctly and then allows others to put in their two cents. Avoid having characters going off on long rants or monologues, instead try and keep any dialogue to a couple of lines. Occasionally a long speech is needed but you need a really good reason and message behind the monologue otherwise the audience will get bored quickly. There are ways you can keep dialogue “realistic” without it being dull and long winded. Allow your characters to interrupt each other from time to time, have them overlap. They can lie and exaggerate to each other. Also you want to avoid having characters referring to the name of the person they are talking to. When you are writing the first draft of your script you shouldn’t worry too much about writing dialogue. Don’t over think it. Just let it flow and come from the heart and it will seem a lot more natural. You can always go over it in the rewrite to tweak and improve it. Some writers put barely any effort into the dialogue in the first draft, leaving basic phrases they can change later. As you write down the dialogue be thinking to yourself, “is there a shorter, snappier way of saying this?”. You’ll eventually get the hang of saying the most in as few words as possible. Once you get inside the head of the character you’re writing for it makes it much easier. This is why some scriptwriters like to write out a character biography and back story for their main characters before they begin writing the dialogue. A character voice consists of eight things: 1. The text/words 2. The subtext/meaning behind the words 3. Grammar 4. Vocabulary 5. Accent and/or cultural influences 6. Slang 7. Professional jargon 8. Style, rhythm and structure A Simple Exercise To Improve Your Understanding Of Dialogue If you’re serious about being a scriptwriter then you should invest in a digital Dictaphone. You might want to ask permission first but use the Dictaphone whenever you can and record conversations with as wide a variety of people as you can. Listen back to it and note the details. You’ll begin to develop a feeling of when people interrupt each other, when the topic gets changed, when there are lulls or uncomfortable moments.
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