The key to writing dialogue is to define exactly what each character wants to say – and then make sure they don’t say it. First, you need to know what each character really wants to say so you know the goal they’re trying to achieve. Second, you don’t want characters to say what they want because that creates short, unrealistic dialogue with no suspense, tension, or intrigue whatsoever.
This is the general structure of how all dialogue works in a scene:One character
- One character indirectly states what they want. By indirectly stating what they want, characters aren’t too confrontational.
- When the character doesn’t get what they want, they get more direct and more personal.
- When the character still doesn’t get what they want, they state what they really want.
Some techniques characters use when talking include:
- Indirect statements
- Questions
- Interruptions
- Ignoring
- Stories
- Direct challenges
- Self-revelation
Indirect statements say what a character wants to say without actually saying it. After each character speaks, they force the other character to respond using one of the techniques listed above. In a scene from “Good Will Hunting”, Chuckie (played by Ben Affleck) tells his friend, Will (played by Matt Damon) that when Will gets a job, he’ll “Probably make some nice bank.”
This is an indirect way of saying, “You have a chance to get a great job, make a lot of money, and get out of construction.”
Will responds with an indirect statement of his own, which states his goal when he responds, “What do I want a way out of here for? I’m going to live here for the rest of my life.”
Now we know the opposing goals of each character. Will doesn’t want to leave his current life and Chuckie wants Will to get out of construction and live a better life.
After Will says he wants to stay in construction, Chuckie gets more direct and personal when he tells Will that if he’s still here in twenty years, he’ll kill him.
Will responds with a question and asks, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Now Chuckie gets more direct and personal by telling Will he has a special talent that anyone would kill for, yet Will won’t use it to get a better life for himself and ignoring his talent to stay in construction is a waste of his life.
Will directly challenges Chuckie by telling him, “You don’t know that.”
So Chuckie responds with the self-revelation technique and tells Will that the best part of his day occurs when he picks Will up for work each day, and for a moment, he dreams that Will has gone and left for a better life. This revelation of Chuckie’s dream shocks Will and makes him realize that maybe he is wasting his life in construction after all.
In every scene, characters should use dialogue with increasing intensity and personal attacks to get what they want, which usually involves changing the mind of the other character. In a scene, the dialogue should get more personal, more direct, and more emotional until it reaches a climax that shows which character got what they wanted.
In a scene from “Green Book”, the hero, Tony, a white man, drives a black musician, Dr. Shirley around the country to perform. Tony has bought a bucket of fried chicken to share with Dr. Shirley, but Dr. Shirley responds with an indirect statement by saying, “I’ve never had fried chicken in my life.”
That’s Dr. Shirley’s way of indirectly saying he doesn’t want to eat fried chicken. That immediately gets Tony motivated to get Dr. Shirley to eat fried chicken.
Tony says that all black people love fried chicken, to which Dr. Shirley responds that just because some black people eat certain foods, not all black people eat those same foods.
When Dr. Shirley tries to repeat the idea that not all black people are alike, Tony interrupts him. This interruption technique forces the other character to respond. In this case, Tony waves a piece of fried chicken in Dr. Shirley’s face to get him to try fried chicken.
Dr. Shirley refuses with an indirect statement, asking how he can eat without plates or utensils. That’s when Tony tells him to eat it with his hands. Eventually Dr. Shirley gives in and tries the fried chicken, finding that he likes it after all.
Study scenes from a favorite movie and notice how characters use these various techniques to get what they want from the other character. First, two characters must indirectly state what they want. Second, they try to get what they want without a major commitment. When that fails, each character’s dialogue gets more emotional and direct until one character finally gets what they wanted from the other.
If the dialogue in your scenes don’t increase in intensity and emotion, you probably need to rewrite your dialogue. Each scene should gradually increase in intensity until reaching an explosive point that leaves no doubt about the outcome.
