Of all the aspects of playwriting, creating crisp and sparkling dialogue may be one of the toughest to do.
The dialogue is the key to the whole play. The dialogue not only contains the characters' motives, aspirations, and history, but it can also include the time of day, setting, season of the year, and costumes and props. This is one thing that is so extraordinary about Shakespeare's dialogue.
Blocked?
Sometimes it seems like nothing comes out, especially with dialogue. You're trying to think of what the character should say and the other character's response, but you draw a blank. I have a couple of things I do when this occurs
- Just continue to write, knowing that it may be nothing but crap. I have a motto, "You can't edit what ain't writ yet." Every sentence that comes from the playwright's mind and fingers won't be a gem. Most of writing is rewriting.
- Switch writing methods. I find that when I get so blocked that even the above doesn't work, I switch to paper and pen. I get a freedom from manually writing that I don't get from a keyboard.
Checking Your Dialogue
The things you're checking for are:
- Pronounce-ability - Can the human tongue actually pronounce it? Many times I've written sections that read very well, but the particular combination of vowels and consonants are like tongue-twisters.
- Content - Does it include the necessary information? If the audience needs to know background information about a character or needs to understand an event that is crucial to the story, make sure the information is in the dialogue.
- Comprehensibility - Is it written in an understandable way so the audience can quickly grasp it? It can be easy to forget the fact that the audience does not have a script, and can't go back and reread sections.
- Elegance - Does it sound like natural conversation? Most of the time, we write much differently than we speak. We write (or try to) in complete sentences, include parenthetical expressions, and use many other grammatical and punctuation tools. When we talk, however, we start and stop, change thoughts, and interrupt each other.
Here are ways to check your dialogue:
- One at a time, read through each character's lines. Listen for consistency in the voice. Each character's dialogue should sound unique, just as each character should be. The playwright's voice will undoubtedly pervade all the dialogue, but it's part of the craft to give each character an individual identity.
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