Happy Friday,
I trust all of you are almost done with your taxes, and are enjoying Spring.
Several of my students asked how they might write better dialog, so I decided to share this tip.
The Overheard Conversation: How to Strengthen Your Dialog in One Easy Exercise.
I was getting my hair cut, and sat next to a colleague who teaches Drama, and has written several scholarly books on the topic. Before leaving the salon, I asked her what was the one thing she thought any screenwriter should do to improve his or her dialog.
“Become a lurker,” my friend said without hesitation, and held up a pad that contained a hastily scrawled account of my own conversation with our mutual Hair God while my hair was being cut. I was surprised that my speaking voice on the page seemed clip and terse, compared to Jeff, a strikingly handsome gay man with a Mohawk and a distinctive southern drawl.
My friend nodded and said “I always carry a pad and pen, so whenever I have an opportunity, I practice writing down real people talking. By recording the conversation, I can make the connection between the way words sound when being spoken and the way they “read”. Jeff came over and said, “What are you two beauties chattin’ about here?’”
“You,” we said in unison.
“Oh pshaw, darlin’ there is NOTHING interesting about lil’ old me.”
My friend and I shared a smile. Nothing interesting???
The attempt to render spoken dialog into written dialog will help train what I call your “ear-to-hand” coordination, and as you practice you will soon see that you can now hear your imaginary characters more clearly, and your sense of scene structure will improve.
Here’s the exercise:
Step 1: Find a place where you can easily overhear a conversation, such as a hair salon, a bar, or restaurant. Locate potential victims and get yourself situated.
Step 2: Using paper and pen or pencil write as much of the overheard conversation as you can, and trying to be a little subtle is recommended.
Step 3: Put your work away for fifteen minutes, then reread it, aloud, as if you had created the scene yourself.
Step 4: Set a timer and write a brief scene where one of the two characters is very late to a meeting and the other cannot just leave. The inevitable argument that will arise will give you a structure for exploring the way each of these “voices” might respond-gold for us writers.
To recap, listening to real people talking and recording their spoken words is a great way to improve your dialog.
Here’s to your successful writing!
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
