Writing Effective Dialogue

by Staton Rabin - screenplay marketing consultant, script analyst, and pitch coach.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

Whenever we think of great lms, what we remember most is not the scenery nor the structure, but the dialogue. Dialogue is the music of movies. From, Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn, to Go ahead, make my day. From Fasten your seat belts. Its going to be a bumpy night, to At my signal, unleash hell. Great dialogue will make your script sing. And while story structure is more important to writing a successful screenplay, juicy dialogue can help attract an A-list star to your script. Powerful dialogue will also give your script that extra bit of zing that can make the sale. Writing movie dialogue is like dancing: some people are born with a knack for it, and others do it as awkwardly as your physics teacher attempting the funky chicken at the high school dance. But just like dancing, writing dialogue is a skill that can be learned. Here are my 10 best tips for creating memorable dialogue: CONTEXT AND CHARACTER ARE EVERYTHING: As youll notice from the famous examples given above, the best dialogue wont make any sense to anyone who hasnt seen the movie. Make sure your dialogue ts the character who is speaking it, and that it springs directly from story context instead of feeling grafted on. Even in comedies, if a line isnt true to the character and situation, it wont work. NO ONE SHOULD TALK LIKE ANYONE ELSE: As in life, each character in your script should have his own distinctive speaking style. To test this out in your script, cover up the character names and see if you can still guess which character is speaking at any given moment. If your characters talk too much alike, x this. NO SMALL ROLES: Actors like to say, There are no small roles. Only small actors. When I read and evaluate a script, I worry when I see characters with generic names like Thug #1 or Waitress #2. Too often, that naming convention results in equally generic dialogue. Each character in your script should have a name (or at least a persona, such as, Nervous Bank Teller), and a distinctive personalityreected in his dialogue.

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ARGUING IS GOOD: Arguing probably isnt a good approach to life. But conict is great for your story. Make sure that every character in your script gives your hero a hard time. I dont care if all your hero wants is directions to the nearest gas station. Nobody should cooperate with him -- at least not without a lot of persuasion. EVIL IS AS EVIL DOES: Amateur writers create heroes whose dialogue drips with the milk of human kindness, and villains whose every syllable drips venom and evil intentions. But what do the pros do? They write heroes who may talk cynically, but behave in the opposite way and demonstrate compassion or idealism. Their villains are often elaborately polite, but evil in their behavior. It adds depth to your script when dialogue doesnt always directly reect a characters true inner being. Always remember that it is your characters actionsnot necessarily what he saysthat determines whether he is good or evil. For reference, see the quintessential cynical hero, Humphrey Bogarts Rick in Casablanca; and for a classic, polite villain, see Calvera (played by the great Eli Wallach) in The Magnicent Seven. DONT TELL US THINGS WE ALREADY KNOW: In some of the scripts I analyze for writers, we get story information in one scene, and then in the very next scene one character tells another the same news. Never tell us things we (the lm audience) already know. How to avoid this? Start the next scene later, after the news has already been transmitted -- or cut it off earlier. For example, if a character dies in one scene and the hero must transmit the sad news to the deceaseds next of kin, all we need to see in the follow-up scene is what happens right before the relative is told -- or what happens right after. In fact, that aftermath scene probably wont need any dialogue at all. All the hero needs to do is walk in the door and make eye contact with the person he must tell. Cut! Also, never write a line of dialogue that begins with: As you already know. If information is being transmitted solely for the audiences benet, it doesnt belong in your script.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

AVOID ON THE NOSE DIALOGUE: When I was in lm school, they warned us never to write dialogue that was too on the nose. By this they meant that characters should never simply state exactly whats on their minds, without nuance or subtext, nor appear to be giving exposition. Thats tantamount to being boring, a cardinal sin. In life, people rarely say directly whats on their minds. In movies they shouldnt either. LESS IS MORE: If you can say the same thing with a visual image, action, behavior, or sound effect instead of through dialogue, omit the dialogue. AVOID VOICE-OVER VERBATIMS: Voice-over narration should never merely repeat what were seeing in action unfolding on the screen. It should act as a counterpoint to the action rather than echoing it. GIVE ACTORS SOMETHING TO ACT: When writing for a star (and even if you are writing a spec script, you should have a star in mind), your dialogue should give him something to sink his teeth into to chew the scenery. If, to Gordon Gekko, Greed is good, for movie dialogue, Over-the-top is good. The star of your movie should have at least one big speech. Give him all the best lines. And make sure that your protagonist is introduced very early in your scriptpreferably on page one. BONUS TIP: Write characters that are quirky and unpredictable in what they say and do. Whatever someone would normally say in the situation at hand, have your character say something totally unexpected instead. Become a better writer of dialogue. Go ahead. Make my day.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

If you enjoyed this article by Staton Rabin, consider subscribing to the print or digital version of Script Magazine. Published six times per year, Script Magazine has exclusive articles from the best screenwriters and teachers in the world. Or visit www.scriptmag.com to read more articles on the craft of screenwriting, interviews with top industry insiders, and the latest screenwriting news.

ABOUT STATON RABIN STATON RABIN is a screenplay marketing consultant, script analyst, and "pitch coach" for screenwriters at all levels of experience. She is also a Senior Writer and story analyst forScript, has been a reader for Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, and is a frequent guest lecturer at NYU. Staton's novelBetsy and the Emperoris in development as a movie with Al Pacino attached to star. Staton Rabin is available for script reading/analysis and consultations and can be reached at Cutebunion@aol.com orhttp://www.statonrabin.com.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

How to Use Final Draft to Write Effective Dialogue

DIALOGUE FORMAT The DIALOGUE element in your screenplay is not capitalized. It is indented 2.5 inches to the left and has a right margin of 6 inches. If you write with Final Draft, you do not need to worry about these margins. Final Draft formats the dialogue for you. As shown in this example from Toy Story, DIALOGUE is always written on the line immediately below the CHARACTER element.

To type a line of dialogue, just press the RETURN or TAB key on your Mac or PC immediately after you type a CHARACTER element. You can also use a Keyboard Shortcut or a drop-down menu. PARENTHETICALS There may be times when you need to give a character some instructions how to speak a line of dialogue or how to act or react when speaking the dialogue. These instructions are called PARENTHETICALS.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

In this example, again from Toy Story, Woody is explaining to the rest of the toys what are some upcoming activities.

Note the parentheticals (under his breath) and (full voice). If the writer had not included these, we would not understand that Woody was trying to keep the news about Andys birthday party away from the other toys. Parentheticals should only be used sparingly. If youre doing your job, it should be obvious how your character is feeling or how the line should be read. Well-written dialogue and action lines already tell the reader whether the character is sad, angry, happy, or excited. You dont need to add a parenthetical to state the obvious. You may also use a parenthetical if you need to direct a line of dialogue to a particular character in a scene. In this example from The Swans of Brooklyn - a tutorial script included with your purchase of Final Draft - the character MOMMY is talking to her children ALLIE and CARA but then directs a single line at DADDY.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

As you can see in the example above, PARENTHETICALS are typed immediately below a DIALOGUE element. They are indented 3.00 on the left and 5.50 on the right. In Final Draft, type a parenthetical by pressing Return or Enter after a CHARACTER line and then immediately pressing the Tab button. Your parenthetical will be ready. FINAL DRAFT ELEMENTS LIST We have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to focus on your story while letting Final Draft format your script. You can choose the correct script element by pressing Return or Enter, pressing Tab, choosing a keyboard shortcut, or using the drop-down menu in the toolbar. There is also another way that requires you to remember just one keystroke. Anytime you come to the end of a line in your screenplay, press Return or Enter twice. An Elements List will appear giving you a choice of every screenplay element. Choose the one you want and continue writing.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

In the example below, weve come to the end of an Action line. We press Enter or Return twice and the Elements List appears. Of course, this command doesnt just work at the end of an Action line. It works whether youre writing a line of DIALOGUE, a CHARACTER line, or even a TRANSITION.

VOICE OVER Sometimes you may need to write dialogue spoken by a character or narrator who isnt actually on the screen. Often times this is done as a way to introduce a backstory to the audience or to comment on certain parts of your story. This type of dialogue is known as voice over. As a rule, lm is a story best told through action and dialogue. Almost every screenwriting teacher or lm school will teach you to be extra cautious when writing dialogue as voice over. However, great lms like American Beauty, Sunset Boulevard, and Stand By Me used Voice Over extensively. And they used it well.

Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

If you need to indicate a line of dialogue in your script is Voice Over, thats no problem. Type your CHARACTER name normally. At the end of the Character name, type one space and then type a left parentheses. A pop-up list appears like in this example below.

Final Draft uses SmartType and shows you what is possible. In this case, youll type (V.O.), press Return or Enter, and start typing your dialogue. Heres an example of a famous line from The Shawshank Redemption.

OFF SCREEN (O.S.) AND OFF CAMERA (O.C.) There will be plenty of times when you have a character speak a line of dialogue but the character is not in the scene. The character might be speaking behind a closed door, in another room, or you might just want to keep the shot on one characters face while the other speaks.

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Writing Effective Dialogue is brought to you by Final Draft, Inc.

Years ago, screenwriters often put the word off into a parenthetical directly under the Character line. Nowadays, we use O.S. for Off Screen and O.C. for Off Camera. In most instances, you should use O.S. if youre writing a spec script. O.C. - or Off Camera - is typically reserved for a shooting script or other production reasons. Having said that, if youve written a well-crafted screenplay with dynamic characters and pageturning action, no producer is going to toss your script because you used O.C. instead of O.S. Heres an example from Toy Story. In this scene, Andy has been playing with his toy doll Woody. Andys mother has just nished decorating for his birthday party in the adjoining room. Andy tosses Woody on the sofa while he views the decorations.

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