Screenwriting Fundamentals
DIALOGUE
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CONFLICT
| A dramatic story thrives on conflict. Actually it extends from conflict. Conflict is its very life force. So it must be for its dialogue. Dialogue exhibits, illuminates, develops, and helps to resolve, the conflict of the story. One character wants something life-or-death, the other character won't let him have it. So the first character bargains, wheedles, and negotiates to get what he wants. Argue, argue, argue. And so it goes. As Richard Walter says, nobody goes to see a movie about the 'Village of the Happy Nice People'. |
DIALECTIC
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Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. To Hegel, German philosopher, this was 'the inevitable transition
of thought, by contradiction and reconciliation, from an initial conviction to its opposite and
then to a new, higher conception that involves but transcends' them both.
Doesn't that sound like a fun conversation? He says something, she contradicts him, and then they find common ground. Only for it to start all over again next scene. Lively application of this logic--to your story, too--might launch your career. Karl Marx used it to change the world, didn't he? To get at the roots of conversational dialectics, perhaps to move to yet another level of screenwriting brilliance, consider the Socratic questioning designed to demolish wrong opinions and get at the truth. His pupil, Plato, also used the technique to expose Universal Truths. See, becoming philosophically aware could help your screenwriting! |
ECONOMY
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Experienced actors cede whole passages of dialogue to novices--preferring to react to the lines
rather than speak them. This comes from the agony of watching themselves on screen droning on and
on unnecessarily.
Pare screenplay dialogue down to essentials:
Relay meaning where possible and appropriate with actions not with words, and this visual medium will reward you. |
EXPOSITION
| Some dialogue "exposes" information the reader/viewer needs in order to understand the action of the story. Ideally, such dialogue would be written in such a way as to spur other characters into action (see David Ball). You can have characters argue over the information instead of presenting it straightforwardly. Use humor. Dream up interesting ways to deliver exposition, in terms of character reaction, word choice, etc. Or lose your audience. |
EXTENSION
| The best way to write exceptional screenplay dialogue is to develop an exceptional screenplay concept and story and people it with fascinating characters. The characters themselves, what they want, the obstacles they face, and the situations they get into, tell you what they need to say to make the movie come alive. |
HUMOR
| No matter the genre or style or situation, humor adds to the situation and makes the script more readable and interesting to follow. The trick is really to be funny and not just play at being funny. Almost anything can be made humorous in the movies, depending on how it's played. Beware the inappropriate use of humor, which can offend and turn the reader/viewer off. Avoid gags and jokes unless they are integrated (as discussed below). |
INTEGRATION
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Make every word of dialogue advance the story, expand character, or illuminate the theme. In other
words, integrate all dialogue into the overall script (see Richard Walter).
Use . .
. . only to advance story, expand character, or illuminate theme. Leave nothing frivolous or unrelated in your dramatic story, and take every dialogue opportunity to advance the story, expand character, or illuminate the theme. |
INTELLIGENCE AND SUBTEXT
| Intelligent dialogue--colorful word choice, witty retorts, sly observations, philosophical reflections--draws the reader/viewer in. Intelligent dialogue has a level of 'subtext', the meaning underlying the words. Avoid dialogue that is too 'on the nose'--says what it means and means what it says. Make characters oblique, obscure, and abstract when getting at something; more or less depending on the genre of the film and the nature of the scene. |
MOTIVATION
| Have characters speak only to overcome an obstacle to their wants and desires (see David Ball). Everything else is extraneous to your movie. Difficult to do at first, the practice of this ideal over time yields exceptional results, the discipline forcing tight story structure, purposeful characters, and efficient dialogue. |
MUSIC
Neil Simon writes his dialogue to music, to tunes in his head, and many swear they hear the melody
when his plays are performed. When an actor delivers one of his words out of order, or drops a
word, these Neil Simon fans notice because it breaks the rhythm. Numerous musical terms can be applied to dialogue . .
Musical orchestration plays like the orchestra of voices in a movie. What if each character had the voice of a different instrument? Or each character could represent the spirit and sounds of a different musical genre? Improvisational musicians carry on a perfect conversation when they perform. As a screenwriter struggling with how to write great dialogue you can learn from what they do.
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RECITATION
Arthur Miller recites his dialogue aloud to himself. He says in his autobiography that he shouted himself
hoarse reciting Death of a
Salesmanbefore sending it to his agent. You too could apply this technique as you write each
line or section of a script, or after you've completed it. Dramatic dialogue must sound good read
aloud. Many local theaters have stage reading programs for new material, as do screenwriting
groups.
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SURPRISE
| Always surprise us by what your characters say. Never have them say what we expect them to. The gesture might say they will, then they don't. Wow! That's fun. |
VARIATION
| Give each major character a distinct voice, different enough, in rhythm, content, and word choice, to be instantly recognizable and distinguishable one from the other. Sharp contrast between the characters--one erudite, the other moronic--brings humor and fascination to the dialogue passages. Drawing extraordinary characters to begin with helps make more colorful the resulting dialogue, and the reverse is also true. |
WIT
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Few people dedicate their lives to being wits anymore, but you can still
benefit from the bon mots of the great smarties in history . .
You need not become a wit in your everyday life to write like one, but wouldn't your script benefit from a few witty characters? Or characters with a few witty lines? |
GETTING BETTER
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To improve your dialogue writing, listen intently to . .
What can you learn? And try . . .
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See also . .
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| Screenwriting | Universe | Magic Star | Story Dynamics |
