What is the secret to great dialogue? Brad Reed offers three techniques for helping you figure it out.
Show Notes:
And we’re back, with apologies for missing last week’s episode. Unfortunately, a fascinating and informative interview with thriller writer J.E. Fishman didn’t record correctly. Watch for take 2 coming as soon as we get our technical issues worked out!
On this episode, Brad talks about how his technique for writing dialog has changed after taking an intensive screenwriting class.
The technique is based on the assertion that each character must have their own agendas in a conversation and that these agendas must take precedence over anything the writer is trying to accomplish with the scene. Brad also explores the technique of “backwards engineering” the way he writes dialog, treating each character as if they are having a conversation disconnected from the other person and then weaving them together during revision.
Brad uses examples from his own draft of The Giant Life of Emmett Mills, his novel-in-progress, as well as Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” which is available here. Brad also mentions Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee as a must-have resource for writers of any genre, media, and level of experience.
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Weekly challenge—Read a screenplay. “The Shooting Script Series” is a great place to find reliable versions of them. Also, see if there are any screenplay writing classes offered in your community. It’s a great way to defamiliarize yourself with writing and help you see your own writing in a new way.
Our Wise Word this week…
Mike Rich, screenwriter of Finding Forrester, The Rookie, Secretariat, Radio, among others. He said to always have a story that you are working on that’s just for you, that you never plan to show anyone.
