503 Writing Dialogue that Crackles and Sings (ENGLISH)

As Eudora Welty once said, “I do not think you can transfer anything, as it is spoken, onto the page and have it come out at all convincingly. It has to be absolutely rewritten on the page from the way it happens, but if you didn’t know how it happened, you couldn’t start.” Much of actual conversation is convoluted and unnecessary. The writer’s goal is to shape dialogue that sounds even better. This workshop will offer concrete tips for creating dialogue that’ reads as natural and engaging, lively and intriguing. We’ll review common dialogue writing pitfalls, and try some fun and interactive exercises to generate dialogue in real-time. Students will learn how to use dialogue to move a story along, when to depend on it to convey information — – spoiler alert: sparingly! — how to use it develop character. Finally, we’ll discuss how to recreate real-life conversations when you can’t remember what was said. By the end of the workshop, students will have a new appreciation for dialogue as an art form, and new tools for crafting dialogue that zings.

Instructor

Hope Edelman