In the world of writing, the story is King but dialogue is the Queen. This is especially true for scripts. And remember, in the game of chess, the Queen has the full range of movement. Dialogue should be spicy, humorous, emotional and contain hidden meaning (subtext). Readers and viewers want to be entertained, surprised and tickled. Dialogue is not normal conversation.
My advice to new writers – really listen to people when they speak. Casual conversations contain contractions, hesitations and slang. Each character should sound different so create character profiles of their education, flaws, personalities, likes and dislikes. The kiss of death is when each character sounds alike. Get into the head/mindset of each character and the dialogue will flow like a waterfall.
That’s it for this issue, scribes. Write on!!
