One of the most common problems I see in early drafts of plays is dialogue that is technically accurate but dramatically inert. You can use this information like I did to strengthen your dialogue in novels.
Characters greet each other. (no subtext)
They explain things they both already know. (no subtext, no intention)
They speak in complete, polished sentences. (no sense of immediacy of thought- like it’s been rehearsed.)
They take turns. (no interruptions or conflict)
They speak without cause.
Real life does contain all of this. Good performance dialogue does not.
In theatre, every line must do something. It must shift power, reveal desire, conceal something, provoke a reaction, or escalate tension. If it does not, it gets cut. Not because it is badly written, but because it is unnecessary.
Some of you might have heard of an Australian television series ‘Mr In-between’. It is truly a masterclass in dialogue. The main character, Ray, is a hit man. He is laconic and steady, and he has one line he uses frequently that sends chills.
‘oh yeah.’
Not a question. Not a silence-filler. Not a throwaway line. Ray uses it in a manner loaded with disagreement, tamped-down anger, provocation and ridicule.
Two words. Conveying all that.
And sure, the actor is carrying all that subtext beautifully, but the point is the writer built a character who could habitually use just two words effective as a knife.
When I apply that same discipline of making words work overtime to fiction, my dialogue becomes tighter, sharper, and far more purposeful.
If you take nothing else from this post, take this:
Every line of dialogue should change something.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.