The challenge of writing good dialogue
I think my biggest writing challenge is creating good dialog that helps define and develop my characters. How do you approach writing dialog and what methods have you found to be effective to help develop a character’s voice? Do you read your dialog with someone else, or do you prefer to work it through by yourself? Do you have specific actors in mind when you write dialog? How much is changed or influenced during the production process?
–Doug
Orange, CA
Doug wrote “dialog” instead of “dialogue,” which prompted me to look up what the real difference is between these words. It turns out they’re equally valid, though the short version makes me bristle for some reason. I guess I associate it with HyperCard “dialog boxes,” rather than things actual people say.
However you spell it, dialogue is what most people think of when you say screenwriting. It’s certainly the most apparent of all screenwriting attributes; bad dialogue is always noticed.
To me, movie dialogue is what real people would say if they could take a few seconds to think between lines. It’s faster, more direct, with much less filler than normal speech.
There’s actually quite a range to what counts as good movie dialogue. The quippy and clever banter in a romantic comedy would sound terrible in Lord of the Rings, while that movie’s stoic speechifying would be deadly in a modern drama. What matters is that there’s a consistency within the movie. In more than one recent film, I could tell when one screenwriter wrote some lines, and another the rest. It bumps.
The most important thing to keep in mind when writing any dialogue is that someone has to say it. Just because a line looks great on paper, that doesn’t mean it will work in an actor’s mouth. So it’s important to speak it aloud, both as you’re reading it and afterwards. As a rule, I won’t write any line of dialogue without speaking it several times to make sure it flows. Even as I’m typing this answer, I’m talking under my breath to listen for the rhythm of the sentence.
If I know which actor is playing a given role, I certainly tailor the dialogue to suit his strengths — at least as I perceive them. For instance, I did a few days work on The Rundown specifically so I could write things for Christopher Walken to say. A lot of times, you worry about going over-the-top, but with Christopher Walken, there is no top. It’s quite liberating.
You have to expect that some dialogue will change during production. Almost always, the line the actor comes up with will be worse than the one you wrote. But the end result is better than having an actor trying to say a line he really doesn’t feel or understand.
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August 5th, 2004 at 6:24 pm
Thanks John. Your comments are helpful and I’ll certainly keep these things in mind when I work on my dialogue.
August 6th, 2004 at 3:14 pm
As someone who is struggling right now with this same problem your suggestions came at a perfect time. Thank you.
August 7th, 2004 at 11:24 am
John,
You wrote on The Rundown? How does that work? Are you on set writing pages hours before they’re filmed, or do they just send you the script, and a few days later you send them your polish or rewrite?
August 7th, 2004 at 2:15 pm
Paul: The latter. I worked three days on The Rundown, just doing some dialogue work right before they started filming. I really enjoyed doing it, and I like the movie; it knows what it is and has fun. Watching it, there’s only a few places where I say, “Oh, that’s my line.” But at the time, Universal seemed really happy with what I did.
August 7th, 2004 at 9:10 pm
John…
Tangenting off of your example of the Rundown….how do you (or the powers that be) decide if your work is going to be an uncredited gig or not. When that gets negotiated, is it based upon a daily rate, kind of like much of the production crew? Or is there a tipping point where they decide to have you work X days and therefore, they HAVE to credit you (WGA stuff perhaps)?
May 26th, 2005 at 9:03 pm
Anyone interested in how to write dialogue should read Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels.
September 20th, 2005 at 9:35 am
Hi We have a project partially financed on the UK end and is a joint UK/Canadian/US set up. Problem we have is everyone on UK end is satisfied with script, including dialogue. On US and Canadian side people aren’t. As writer of this project and co-producer I’m having problems writing the dialogue to satisfy the US/Can producers. Apart from paying a writer ( we have limited development funds) we are at a loss. Are there any tips etc for writing for a US/Can market? Apart from reading lots of scripts and watching TV/Film, we need to fix this ASAP. We can work on a credit and shared monies once finance is secured only for now. Any ideas? Thanks
January 16th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
How do you handle dialogue when you want the actors to improvise?