THE TOP TEN PRINCIPLES FOR WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE – PART 2

WHY CONFLICT & TENSION ARE ESSENTIAL TO WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:     

Last week’s episode gave us three more of the top ten principles for writing great dialogue. This week, we dive into principle number 5. In order for dialogue to be “good,” it must:

 
INCLUDE CONFLICT & TENSION

1.     The dullest dialogue is when people agree. People have different agendas and personalities, even when they’re on the same team. But this doesn’t mean the characters are always fighting. 

2.     Sometimes, people are exactly in sync. On these occasions, there still must be tension or conflict somewhere in the world of your story, or if not the story world, then in a particular scene itself where the form of it feels predictable and overly familiar. 

3.     One key technique to help in this situation is juxtaposition (i.e. Love scene while changing a tire in the pouring rain.

UP NEXT

Next week, we will go over two more principles of great dialogue. 

Principle #6: Good dialogue sounds just right for the scene, story, or movie; 

Principle #7: Good dialogue sounds just right for each character. 

We’ll also learn about orchestration and how to ensure that each character has his or her own unique voice.  Don’t miss these lessons and more in our recurring series on dialogue!

QUESTIONS OR TOPIC REQUESTS? 

If you have a question or a specific writing related topic that you would like Zena to consider addressing in a future podcast, click on the link below to leave a voicemail recording with your problem, question, or issue.

https://www.speakpipe.com/ZenaDellLowe

SPECIAL THANKS

The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe would like to thank composer Carla Patullo for the original music she graciously permits us to use in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to  www.carlapatullo.com

TAGS: Artist, Artists, Dialogue, How to write good dialogue, characters, Writing tips, Writing, Writers, Story, Storytelling, Storytellers, Zena Dell Lowe, Mission Ranch Films, The Storyteller’s Mission, The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe

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