It Was Something You Said

The Art of Dialogue in Fiction

Facilitated by Reni Roxas

In fiction, the goal of dialogue is to mirror how people speak to each other in real life. Yet in life, nothing is what it seems. People seldom mean what they say, nor say what they mean. Bad dialogue is when people are listening to each other. (They usually don’t.) Bad dialogue is when people understand each other. (They rarely do.)

What, then, is good dialogue?

Good dialogue is not a tennis match; it is two characters engaging in “shadow-boxing.” The best dialogue diverts, evades, avoids, misdirects, conceals, obfuscates, and withholds. Great dialogue grounds us in moments that convey the tone, theme, and world of the story. It is transactional—one person is trying to get something she wants. But the main function of dialogue is to reveal character.

For the first half of our 5-hour workshop we shall learn the basics of writing dialogue. In the second half, we shall slide beneath the words and examine the subterranean thoughts and feelings hidden between the lines. We shall explore the interplay of text and subtext—what is said (conscious) against the unsaid and the unsayable (subconscious). We shall read and watch curated examples of superb dialogue both on the page and in film or television. Our time together will comprise of mini-craft lectures, close reading, film and TV clips, and brief in-class writing exercises.

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