WRITING DIALOGUE

Writing dialogue

Dialogue should be true to life, but it cannot be exactly true

Real speech is often aimless, halting, or unfinished

Thus, the trick is to write dialogue that seems real, but that is easy for the audience to follow

Make an outline! Make an outline showing the

differences in the ideas that you would like to convey: Spell out the explanation for each

side of the argument in steps Why does each side have the

beliefs on your topic that they do? What is the basis?

Dialogue

Don’t create non-parts with your characters in dialogue. This is the agreeing, nodding, uh-huh-ing character.

Work to reveal information from both sides of the conversation

Dialogue Writing

Begin a new paragraph every time there is a change of speaker.

Unlike traditional dialogues, do not use quotation marks at the beginning of each person’s speech– use quotation marks for the direct quotes you are using from your research (don’t forget to cite!).