Dialogue is perhaps one of the most challenging components of screenwriting. Most writers rely far too heavily on dialogue to move their story forward. When you do write dialogue, it’s often difficult to get it to sound natural, and individualized. I often find myself telling writers that their dialogue all sounds the same. It’s very hard, especially in early drafts when you yourself don’t even know your characters, to write dialogue that sounds different for each character, but this is a vital part of a successful script.

In the first draft, write out the dialogue that comes to you-it won’t be good, but you’ll put down what needs to be said and when. Then go back, re-read, and revise. The next step should be having it read aloud. If you are part of a writer’s group, have actor friends, or just friends who like hearing themselves talk, have them help you. Read the scenes aloud, with different people reading each part. Hearing it read by other voices will help you hear what works, and what doesn’t. You’ll notice things that sound phony, cheesy, or hackneyed when you hear it aloud, versus seeing it on the computer screen.

Make notes during the read, and get input from the people reading. How did they feel about their part? Were there things they felt sounded odd, or out of character for that person? Revise again based on these notes.

In your daily life, make sure you listen to people talking all the time. Take those earbuds out and observe as much conversation as you can everywhere you go. It’s especially important to observe when you’re writing characters with different backgrounds from yours, or the opposite sex, or people much younger or older than you are.  If there’s a 13 year old in your script and you write the slang that was cool when you were in junior high, it will be instantly recognizable as phony to the parents of teenagers, and the teenagers themselves. And you don’t have to go lurking creepily in school yards to eavesdrop on kids (you definitely should not do that). Kids and teenagers are everywhere, and you’ll hear them if you listen, at Starbucks, in the mall, at and fast food restaurants. You’ll also hear elderly people, people from other parts of the country, people with different accents, all different types. Listen to how they speak, the words they use, the length of their sentences, the way they phrase things. Write it down, and pay attention to how you can capture their cadence and tone with words.  Just opening your ears to other people will make a world of difference in your dialogue, and greatly improve your screenplays.

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-Ginger Earle