Dialogue Workshop!

Hey! The Folder is Open! And Empty! Write Things and Stick 'em in! writers-workshop.deviantart.co…


Hi. Sorry I was gone. I'm back. We have to talk.

About talking.

But first! I know that a lot of people have been concerned that:

1. These workshops are getting less and less frequent. We're working on that! I plan on doing weekly updates for the rest of the summer, and workshops should happen about once every three weeks or so.

2. People are not being a community. So! I have an idea about how to fix it. Maybe it'll fly, maybe it'll sink, but we're going to try it. The Week 3 journal is just going to be a shoutout board. I will pull comments people make on workshop pieces--compliments, insightful critiques, whatever--and they'll be used as "shoutouts" to promote the workshop pieces submitted. This will hopefully encourage others to read the featured stories.

Which brings us to the workshop challenge:

Write a story entirely in dialogue.

You can write it in script format with character names, or you can write it like this: The Monkey's FistGather round, gents and I’ll tells ya a story.  I calls it, The Monkey’s Fist!
You mean “The Monkey’s Paw” don’t you?  The one where the old couple gets a cursed monkey’s paw with three wishes, and they wish for money and--
Jesus Christ, who’s telling this thing?  If I said it’s a fist it’s a goddamn fist!
Whatever.
So anyhoo, this old couple, see, they get a cursed monkey’s fist—
Paw.
FIST.  And it’s cursed, see.  It grants the owners three wishes.  So for their first wish, they choose a million bucks!
That’s not much money in today’s market.
Christ, okay. They wish for a billion dollars.
Still, if I had a cursed monkey paw—
Fist.
Whatever.  If I had one of those, I’d wish for 50 trillion, at least.  Enough to—
Oh goddamn it, fine.  They wish for 50 trillion bucks!  And kazaam!  They

It should probably stick to being one scene, but no word count limit for this one. Whatever length feels comfortable.

Keys to Writing Dialogue

Listen to the ways different people speak. How do they differ? People vary in formality, in the slang they use, but also in whether they speak in run on sentences or fragments. Some people do odd things you don't pick up on right away, like speak without contractions. Some people pause a lot on speech.

What does each character want? How are they opposed--or not opposed--to each others wants? How do their wants conflict? Remember, at any given time, a person wants more than one thing.

How are they trying to get what they want? Are they trying to seduce? Bully? Plead? Tell someone else a story?

Show don't tell! Importantly, in this case: Never have a character state their emotions. When a person is angry, they might speak more carelessly. They might swear. They might pause more to collect their thoughts. They might contradict themselves. They will probably never say, "I am so mad right now!" They also won't use all caps, even if they're yelling--an exclamation point will suffice.

Also, any adverb you might've attached to your word "said": figure out how to show that as well. Drunkenly? Menacingly? Monotonously? All those things affect your character's word choice, tempo, and clarity.

Your Challenge

Before you write your story! Read this: 2012.scriptfrenzy.org/node/412…

It's helpful. Also, then! Leave a comment linking us to your favorite, all-dialogue or mostly-dialogue story, either on or off dA. Feel free to ask questions! I want part of this workshop to be sharing resources.

Finally! When the folder is open tonight, you have one week to write and submit your dialogue story! It's supposed to be rough-drafty, that's okay. In Week 2, a Second Layer of Challenge will be presented.


Critiques and comments are welcome as soon as people start posting work. So! To recap:

Read Dialogue Stories
Share Dialogue Stories
Write Dialogue Stories
Post Dialogue Stories
Critique Other People's Stories

That's what's happening this month.

Any questions?