Screenwriting : Spicing up your dialog... by Jeremy Andrew Davis

Jeremy Andrew Davis

Spicing up your dialog...

What are some of your favorite techniques for spicing up your dialog? One I like is interweaving multiple topics into the conversation so there are constant twists to meaning. A great example is the opening to The Social Network (Sorkin does this a lot). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rOXj4E4hNQ

I also like Dee Rees' triple bumper theory - https://www.mentorless.com/2018/03/02/filmmaker-dee-rees-use-triple-bump...

I'll often write my OTN version of a scene first if I'm getting stuck and then I'll go back to polish. What are some techniques that have helped your dialog?

Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique

I have conversational dialogue between the characters and I make sure it's value-added. Often times, I read screenplays where the characters are talking at one another. Or they say the same thing twice with different words. Or they repeat the exact same thing. I make sure I never do any of that.

Erik A. Jacobson

Get a notebook. Go to a restaurant frequented by your target demographic. Seat yourself next to a group of them. Listen attentively. Take notes on the best stuff you hear.

Stephen Floyd

I make sure my dialogue is happening in the context of conflict. If there isn't a conflict, I'll invent one just to make the scene more dynamic.

But never, ever forget that the brilliant dialogue you spent hours slaving over is going to be replaced by a knowing stare in the hands of a capable actor, so don't get TOO worked up about it.

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