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WRITING DIALOGUE THAT DANCES ON THE PAGE

For the most part, dialogue is what keeps your script moving. It is commonly known in the industry — and having read a gazillion scripts I can attest — that most readers will skim action lines. If those lines are bulky, they will skip them completely. It is the combination of character and dialogue that tell the story. Therefore, your dialogue must be crisp and rhythmic. Dialogue that is choppy or inconsistent will slow the reader down, and potentially take them out of the story and your script altogether.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: DIALOGUE COMES FROM CHARACTER

The most important thing to remember about dialogue is that it must come from character. One of the first things producers are going to evaluate your script on is how well you have captured the characters’ voices. This is why I have been harping so on studying the show for which you want to write. You have to know who the character is and be able to get inside his or her head. You have to know character speech patterns, and be ready to fire out dialogue in a voice that is uniquely that character’s. For example, on Modern Family, Haley and Alex are sisters, but they are nothing alike. Consequently, their lines of dialogue aren’t ever going to be interchangeable because they approach the world from two totally different points of view. No characters should ever sound alike, because no two humans are alike. So if you are writing a Modern Family, and you have a line of dialogue that you think could go to either Haley or Alex, this is a red flag. All dialogue should be character-specific.

Another thing to be cautious of when writing dialogue is to keep your own voice out of it. We all have our own particular way of speaking, our own favorite words and/or phrases that we use regularly. But remember, you are writing the way a character speaks, not the way you do. So, if your favorite word is “awesome,” that’s awesome, but it only belongs in dialogue if it fits with the way a particular character talks. If you are writing a Downton Abbey, imagine how ridiculous the word “awesome” would sound coming out of Robert Crawley’s mouth. If you write dialogue the way you would say something rather than the way a particular character would say it, producers will read your script and immediately decide that you are not a great writer because you didn’t capture the character voices. I have read a number of spec scripts where, because I know the writer, I can actually hear his or her voice in the dialogue. This is not a good thing.

While the above is true when writing a spec for an existing show, it’s also true for writing a spec pilot. The difference is that when doing a pilot, you as the writer/creator have the extra burden of actually creating the characters and finding their unique voices. You don’t have the luxury of studying a show where the characters and their voices have already been established. You have to do the hard work of writing character-specific dialogue that is consistent throughout your script. If the dialogue is inconsistent, and a character’s voice is here, there, and everywhere, agents, executives, and producers will likely assume that the character is not fleshed out enough. And characters that are not fleshed out can kill pilot scripts.

DIALOGUE IS LIKE PING-PONG

When you think of dialogue, imagine yourself watching a game of pingpong. Your head follows the ball back and forth, back and forth. Now picture that instead of watching a game of ping-pong, you are watching a conversation. The rhythm is pretty much the same… back and forth, back and forth. Unless someone is telling a story or giving a speech, dialogue isn’t usually a monologue.

Start listening to the rhythm of people’s conversations. Go to public places where you won’t be obvious like the beach or a café, and just listen to how the exchange of information goes back and forth. This is how dialogue in a script should be written.

To understand precisely what I am talking about, flip through any TV script and look carefully at how small most blocks of dialogue are. The smaller they are, the better the read. Dialogue should be no more than one–four sentences per character. That’s not to say that here and there you won’t find a chunky piece. Sometimes big blocks of dialogue can’t be avoided. But if your entire script is that way, you need to go back and really chop to make it more conversational. And while you have your dialogue on the chopping block, take out extraneous words. Your dialogue will read faster — and ultimately better if you let your character get out what he or she has to say using as few words as possible.

INCORPORATING CHARACTER CATCH PHRASES

On many shows, characters have well-defined words and/or catch phrases. These are always character-specific, meaning when we hear the word or phrase, we immediately associate it with that character. A good example of this would be on The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon Cooper uses the word “bazinga.” This word has become such a trademark of Sheldon’s character that Warner Bros. actually trademarked it. When writing a spec for an existing show, it’s fine to use that word or catchphrase in that character’s dialogue. In fact, you should use it, as it will show the producers you know the character and the show. Just be sure you don’t overuse it. Too many “bazingas” in one episode can get tiring.

DIVERSE DIALOGUE

Thankfully, these days, many TV shows contain diverse characters. Writing dialogue for these characters can be fun, but it can also be challenging if you aren’t coming to the table with the same background, experience, and commonality, which you probably won’t be. I would caution you against flavoring your dialogue with too much of what you believe is the “appropriate slang” of that ethnicity or group. It can come off as false and pandering, which is the last thing you want. Remember, you are writing characters, not stereotypes.

When in doubt, I would encourage you to run what you have written by a member of that ethnic group. Obviously, that person can’t speak for everyone in their group, but they will probably be better equipped to tell you if your character’s dialogue rings true to their life experience. Listen carefully to what they have to say. And if you are off slightly, don’t be afraid to ask that person for some help. In the end, it will likely improve that character’s dialogue by leaps and bounds.

TALKING THE TALK

When writing scripts where the character has a specific profession, you must write dialogue that is character specific, but also mirrors how people in that field actually talk. For instance, if you are writing a procedural, you have to incorporate cop/detective lingo into your dialogue. Cops generally don’t speak in long, grammatically correct sentences. They don’t have time — they have killers to catch — so they shorthand stuff. Even words get shortened sometimes. For example, the “perpetrator” often becomes the “perp.” It’s the same with doctors and lawyers. They too, have a way of speaking that is standard for their professions. You must write dialogue that contains this lingo in order for the dialogue to feel authentic.

SWEAR WORDS AND SLANG

Your mother may have told you that swearing is a no-no. I’m happy to report that it’s perfectly acceptable to swear in dialogue as long as the chosen words are something a particular character would say. Obviously, there are words and phrases that are considered okay to use on cable shows but those same words and phrases are completely unacceptable on network television. So, you really have to be aware of the show and the audience you are writing for. Just remember that while cursing is okay on some shows, for the most part you don’t want to overdo it by having your characters drop one f-bomb after another. That will get old fast. It will also take away from the quality of your dialogue. Keep in mind, the secret to writing strong characters and smart dialogue is to have your characters say something interesting. You don’t want them all to talk like truck drivers for the sake of talking like truck drivers.

When it comes to everyday conversation, most of us don’t speak in perfect English, using grammatically correct sentences. Thus, it’s okay to use slang in dialogue as long as it matches your character’s voice and it works within the context of the show that you are writing for. Be sure to use slang consistently. One error I see a lot is characters using slang in one speech and in the very next speech they’re using such proper English that the Queen herself could have written it. This is not the way characters talk. Character speech patterns are usually consistent. Characters either speak proper English or they speak slang, but not both.

RIGHT-ON DIALOGUE: WRONG!!

Another pitfall you want to avoid is writing dialogue that hits the nail too squarely on the head. It won’t sound natural. Whatever the “it” is, people, as a rule don’t usually come right out with it. Let’s say a woman thinks her husband is having an affair. The minute he walks through the door, most likely she’s not going to blurt out, “I think you’re having an affair.” She’s probably going to be cagier and a bit more subtle. Perhaps something like this:

Wife: Where’ve you been? It’s after midnight.

Husband: At the office like I told you.

Wife: I called your cell. You didn’t answer.

Husband: Didn’t hear it.

Wife: I called twenty times.

Husband: Like I said, I was busy.

Wife: I bet you were.

See how the wife says one thing, but she actually means something entirely different. This is known as subtext. What the wife is saying — without coming out and saying it — is that she knows her husband’s cheating on her. Good writing will always contain subtext. It makes the conversation deeper and more interesting as it adds a whole new layer and meaning to what the characters are actually saying. When writing dialogue, always look for subtext between your characters. It ups the ante. You’ll often find that it’s what your character is saying between the lines that’s most important. And if the subtext is written well, it’s definitely more entertaining than straightforward dialogue that says exactly what it means.

WATCH OUT FOR NAMES

Be sure when you write that you don’t overuse character names. In real life, when people talk, they don’t continuously tack each other’s names at the beginning or end of every sentence. It’s good to use character names throughout the script, but do so sporadically and it will sound more natural. This is especially true when only two people are in the scene.

KEEPING DIALOGUE WHERE IT BELONGS

When an audience settles in to watch your show, the only thing they will see is what is on the screen. Remember, no one is going to have a copy of your script as a companion guide to follow along with at home. Whatever information you want or need an audience to have must come through dialogue or through specific actions by the character. Therefore, steer clear of using the action lines in your script to fill the reader and audience in on what’s been going on before the scene started. For example, if you have a character named Bob who has been at the store for the past two hours, you don’t want to write in the action lines, “Bob enters through the front door, frustrated, carrying a bag of groceries. He’s been at the supermarket for the last two hours.” That information has to come out in dialogue. Once Bob “storms through the door” let him say to his wife. “Everyone and their cousin are shopping today. It took me two hours to get everything we need for the cookout.” See the difference? Character and story are revealed through dialogue.

WHY USING DIALOGUE TO REVEAL BACKSTORY CAN BE DEADLY

Perhaps one of the toughest challenges writers face is when they need the audience to have a piece of information, but that information has nothing to do with the conversation at hand. Beware: when you try to insert backstory into a scene or conversation, where it doesn’t naturally fit, it will stick out like a sore thumb. It will sound forced and unnatural. If it feels like you’re forcing it, you probably are. In that case, you need to stop and look at the script as a whole to try to find a place where you can reveal the information in a more natural way — a way that makes sense to the characters, story, and script.

A PIECE OF ADVICE ABOUT DEVICES

We are all addicted to our smart phones. So it’s only natural that TV characters also use their phones to stay in touch. That said, long phone conversations can come off like monologues, even when they are intercut so we can see both people. Nine times out of ten, when characters are in separate locations, the drama or comedy of what they are talking about is significantly lessened. On screen, the shot becomes talking heads, which, you now know, is visually dull. Whenever possible, bring your characters into the same room and let ’em have at each other. I promise you your dialogue will play much better when your characters have their conversation in the same physical space. If that’s not feasible, make the phone conversation short and sweet.

WHAT TO DO WHEN ALL OF YOUR CHARACTERS SOUND ALIKE

Once you have finished writing your first draft, you definitely want to go back and read it, out loud. Listen carefully. As you go from character to character, does each sound different? Is each one speaking in his or her unique voice?

It is quite possible that, as you read your first draft, you will discover that some of the dialogue sounds strikingly similar. This is a red flag. You now know that dialogue should never be randomly assigned to whatever character happens to be handy. So you need to go back through your script line-by-line, and fix whatever is off. If you are writing a spec for an existing show, the best way to do this is to look at a few episodes of the show. If you are writing a pilot, you obviously can’t do this. But, either way, the idea is to focus on one character’s voice. Go through the script looking only at that particular character’s dialogue. Make changes accordingly. By not having a mish-mash of voices floating around your head, you are more likely to stay on track. Once you complete the process for one character, repeat the process for every character. Then go back and reread the script from the top. Chances are, it’s a lot better now.

CHECKLIST FOR DIALOGUE