Talk is Cheap but Good Dialog Can Be Worth Millions
February 8, 2008 · Written by Melissa Donovan
Bell Ringers
“Go ahead, make my day.”
“Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.”
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Money Makers
If you recognize any of the famous movie quotes above, then you’ve probably already figured out why good dialog can be a valuable commodity. When audiences go around repeating catchphrases that were borne from the pages of a screenplay, they’re like a virus, spreading rapidly until they’re embedded into our culture.
Guess what happens? More people go see the movie. Then more, and more, and more. It becomes a classic, just like the films that the quotes above were taken from.
It’s Gotta Work
Dialog has to do a little more though. That’s right, becoming a part of our cultural makeup isn’t enough. Good dialog moves the story along, reveals something significant about the characters, and intrigues the audience. But not in a forceful way. Dialog should have a natural flow, and feel like real and normal conversation, except it’s usually just a little bit more interesting.
Can you write good dialog? For today’s writing exercise, you sure can try.
Your Challenge
Your challenge is to write one page of dialog taking place between two characters. One of them must be either the antagonist or protagonist of your story or screenplay. Within the context of this dialog you must include the following information:
- Characters’ names
- Relationship between the two characters
- Reveal the primary conflict of the plot
- What is the driving force behind your antagonist or protagonist? What is motivating him or her?
- Divulge where the characters are having their conversation (geographically)
To make the challenge a little more challenging, get a stellar line in there somewhere. Like the famous movie quotes at the beginning of this post, aim for something short, sweet, and revealing; something packed with attitude. Something that says it all.
If you take on this challenge, go ahead and share an excerpt. You can share the whole thing if you’d like, or post it on your own blog or web site and leave a link in the comments. We’d all especially love to read any super catchphrase of a one-liner that you’ve written.
Oh, and see if you can’t name the movies that those quotes came from…
Email this article to a friend
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
The movies:
One of the Dirty Harry series (Clint Eastwood)
Casablanca (Humphrey Bogart)
Gone with the Wind (Clark Gable)
Be back later.
I accept your challenge, expect a post on it soon.
I love writing dialog and often feel like I’ve got multiple personality disorder when I’m writing it. The first thing about writing good dialog is knowing your characters inside and out. You have to know how they’d react to any given situation as much as you know yourself. Like acting, it’s all about getting into and staying in character.
“Be careful, Jamie.” Harry eyed the object warily.
“I will be,” the man answered, but he didn’t move closer. He rubbed his chin, eyes glued to the object. Tension radiated in the air. He could almost taste it.
“I just want to know how bad it is,” James bit his lip before going on. “I mean, we have to be informed, right? Someone’s got to…”
“It doesn’t have to be us.”
“No.” Jamie’s voice was firm. “Letting someone else do the dirty work isn’t right. It’s up to us.” He wiped his mouth, still eyeing the object on the desk. “I don’t even know who left this in my office. It was just… here.”
He moved a little closer. “You’ve got my back, right?”
“Yeah. I got your back, bro,” Harry smiled in the dark of the room. “That’s why we’re partners, isn’t it? We’re a team.”
“I know.” James shifted on his feet and took a step. Then he stopped and looked back. “Harry?”
“Mm?”
“Just… stay here, okay? If something goes wrong, call for help.” The worried look on Jamie’s face said it all.
“It’ll be fine.” The reassurance was all Harry could give right now. He didn’t know how bad the situation was either. “I’m not leaving you alone. All you need to do is see if it’s as bad as we think. If we can fix it, we will. If we can’t…” He swallowed. “We’ll destroy it.”
“Okay.” James sighed, and then he started creeping forward. “Just one step at a time,” he said softly to himself. “That’s it… Yeah, one step at a time…”
He approached the desk carefully, body tense and ready to run at the slightest provocation.
“Psst. Jamie.” Harry’s whisper stopped the advance.
“What?” Annoyance tinged Jamie’s voice.
“You forgot this.” Harry threw something, the thin straight object arching through the air like a Jedi light saber.
James reached up and caught it easily, grasping the pen in his hand.
“Men with Pens, bro,” Harry whispered, and James stood straighter, confidence washing over him as if the pen had the power to kill the Darkness.
“Yeah…” He nodded once. “If the Pen Men can’t fix this, no one can.”
ROTFLMAO!
James. You’re insane. How am I supposed to top that?
For the record, Melissa, this is -not- an easy exercise.
“Your elbow, Rylan.”
“What?”
“Raise it. Not so much. Good. Now pull me closer.”
“We’re not being judged for good form, m’lady. Ana won’t be coming in tomorrow with ‘did you hear how everyone’s talking about how Rylan can’t keep form slow-dancing? It’s all over the palace and partway down the city! The most exciting news of the day! Better than the tiger-slaying!’”
“Sarcasm does not become you.”
“That wasn’t sarcasm. That was mockery.”
“Rylan, your elbow.”
“Sorry. … … Remerdii is watching you, Wyrren.”
“I suppose he wants me to dance with him?”
“Actually, he looks like he wants to eat you.”
“Unfortunate. We’re not even engaged.”
“I was serious, m’lady. I can move to the other side of the room before…”
“Before he has the audacity to ask me for a four-minute fox trot?”
“Wait!”
James’ hand shook where it hovered only fractions above the object on the desk. Eyes wide, he glanced towards Harry. “What?”
“Blue, not red.” Harry tossed another pen onto the desk. “It’s always the blue one.”
@Deb, You got ‘em all!
@Harry, I DO have multiple personality disorder. Oh wait, no — I’m just a Gemini. Hey, what’s wrong with a red pen? I use a pink one myself.
@James, Brilliant! When is your movie coming out?
@Eliza, This one’s close to my heart because I love to dance! Nice job!
Ha, I have to finish our novel first. They’ll grab that and make it into a movie, though. Double win!
What a cool post, Melissa, and I LOVE how the comments are so exciting!
Sounds like Deb knew the movies right away.