<strong>3 steps that your aspiring screenplay writer should follow </strong>
Writing a dialogue or a verbal conversation between two or more people is perhaps one of the trickiest aspects of creative writing. An effective dialogue is one that grabs the attention of the audience, conveys information, sets the premise, provides insight into the characters and finally paves a way for the dramatic action. The goal is to keep the language and tone conversational and make it sound like actual real-life speeches. Composing effective and compelling dialogues which are close to real life comes with a lot of practice and. A script writer also needs to develop a strong narrative technique. Here are the all-too-essential basic steps that youngsters interested in creative writing and want to pursue a career in this field should follow.
Figure out the type of dialogue that needs to be written
There are primarily two kinds of dialogues, direct dialogue and indirect dialogue. Direct dialogue refers to the effective and speedy means of conveying information and usually contains direct and to-the-point responses from one character to questions asked by another. On the other hand, indirect dialogue doesn’t rely on speech. It refers to inner thoughts, memories, and recollection of past conversations. While direct and indirect dialogues are written separately, there are times when both are combined for added dramatic action.
Focus on the style and formatting
Once the type of dialogue is decided, the next important step is to pay attention to both style and formatting. The first thing to note is the correct usage of grammar, followed by proper use of tags and punctuations, accurate spellings and sound alignment of paragraphs. The language should either be formal or informal and never both, unless specially required. The important rule to remember here is that punctuations in case of dialogues often go inside the quotations. This keeps the dialogue distinct from the rest of the narrative. Another important rule is to change paragraphs whenever a new character is introduced or reappears. This includes involving the actions as well as dialogues of the same character into one single paragraph. Also, overuse of certain common dialogue terms like said, told, asked should be tried and replaced with the most suitable synonym depending on the context. At times, instead of using such words, creating an image that denotes a similar meaning also helps.
Make special efforts for improvement
To master any skill, one needs to keep on practising. Same goes for the art of dialogue writing. The three steps one needs to follow to ensure improvement include: Maintaining a dialogue diary where one can jot down speech patterns and vocabulary and rehearse them; listening and taking notes as much as possible from real life scenarios and conversations including words, phrases and verbatims; reading famous chains of dialogues that will not only improve the writing flair, but also familiarise one with the natural flow and form of narration, until he or she becomes a pro.