Writing from The Heart: An Exercise In Developing Dialogue

Writing from The Heart

"Writing from The Heart" is a workshop on creative writing, creative drawing, and creative drama. There are three available versions of this workshop: one for beginners on the secondary, tertiary, and graduate levels, and another for practitioners. A third version of this workshop is designed as an outreach program to disadvantaged and underserved audiences such as the disabled, the poor and the marginalized, victims of human trafficking, battered women and abused children, drug rehabilitation center residents, child combatants, children in conflict with the law, prisoners, and gang leaders. This third version incorporates creativity and problem awareness, conflict resolution, crisis intervention, trauma therapy, and peacemaking.

Friday, April 21, 2017

An Exercise In Developing Dialogue

Record a normal conversation. Transcribe it on paper if necessary.

1) What is the objective of each person in the conversation?

2) Mark the twists and changes that each person in the conversation takes.

Now REWRITE the conversation as dialogue in a play, keeping in mind that the dialogue in every scene in a play must push the premise forward.

3) After deciding what the premise of each person in the conversation is, DELETE all irrelevant passages from the conversation.

4) Rewrite the conversation so that each line pushes its speaker's premise. Be aware of dramatic economy and cross out everything superfluous, i.e., any idea that has already been articulated.

5) Now read through the rewritten conversation. Do emotions play a role in the conversation? If they do, EXAGGERATE each emotion--merely as an exercise--in the conversation.

Reread your work. You have just written a passage of dialogue.