Writing Technique

November 15, 2006

Dialog Technique - What Works for You?

I've been working on a sitcom script for the last little bit and that's meant wrestling a lot with dialog. I know good dialog starts with being a good listener, and I've been trying to get out a little more to coffee shops, dude ranches, laser tag emporiums, and other places where "real people" hang out, to hear how they speak and to pick up language I might not have used myself.

I'm also trying to come up with a handful of basic working techniques that'll help me get more consistent and credible results. I thought some of the folks who drop by this site might be interested in sharing techniques we've been taught or figured out. If you're feeling generous, add a comment to this post -- no technique too small, too cheesy, or too obvious.

Here are a few of the things I've been messing around with:

backstory-a-licious: The clearer the character's backstory and driving motives, the more personal their reactions to any situation. This week I finally figgered out the backstory for one key character in the sitcom. It was a pretty simple sketch of a backstory, but even that really helped turn his words from "generic Cecil banter" to something more specific.

messing up the tennis match: I find I too easily get into dialog volleys of "Ingmar, what'd you have for dinner?" "Well Dave, I had tacos for dinner. How about you?" Dialog can start to get into this predictable back and forth as I race toward a particular plot objective (for example: "feed Ingmar and Dave!"). The aforementioned backstories help remind me to stay focused on what drives the characters, not just the plot point that's driven me to write this particular scene. I've also been encouraging characters to interject more tangents, and I've been occasionally allowing them a genuine word fumble -- something that'll surprise the other characters and hopefully the audience.

keying in on key phrases: for some characters I focus in a phrase or two that they use. They don't even have to actually use it in the piece, it's just something I keep in the back o' my mind as I write their lines. For example, in this micro-musical I was messing around with, there's a character whose voice keys off the phrase "How 'bout that?" (stolen from a kid who played Tom Sawyer at Disneyland -- as he walked away he called out to my kids with a light twang: "I'll come back later and we'll go look for treasure -- how 'bout that?") Whenever I thought I was getting off track on that character's voice, I'd ask myself "is this the sorta thing my 'how 'bout that' guy would say?"

So that's a few from me. How 'bout that? And how 'bout you? -- any dialog tips/techniques/tricks you'd be up for sharing?
-Cecil

Posted by cecil at 1:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

December 19, 2005

Thinking about Notebooks

A few years ago I finally figgered out a really obvious thing: that writing's only one part inspiration/ability. Duh, I know. But there I was, waiting for the spirit of F. Scott to sieze control of my spine, to toss me into my deskchair and start my finger bones pounding out Gatsby II: The Reckoning. And it weren't happening.

Through fits and also through starts, I figured out a few get-yourself-to-write techniques that seem to help. For a while now, I've meant to blog about these, to keep track of them, to share them, and to see if anyone out there wants to jump in with a technique or three of their own. One of my habits changed recently, so I thought that might make for a good opportunity to kick this off. I'm talking of course, about notebooks.

I subscribe to the big-notebook, little-notebook school o' thought, wherein a little notebook is kept in pocket to jot down random ideas, dialog, observation, and shtick that arrive at unexpected moments (this came from Anne Lamotte, author of my beloved Bird by Bird) who talks about always having a few index cards shoved in your back pocket.) The big notebook is for what Julia Cameron (author of The Artist's Way) calls "morning pages" -- three pages a day, written every day, to uncork whatever ferment you've got in ya.

For the last six months or so, I've dropped from doing morning pages most days to writing three pages once or twice a week. Part of the problem was that three pages was a big enough forced-writing mandate that it only fit into my two chunks of scheduled writing time on the weekend. Also, it had pretty much devolved into pure journal. Which is not entirely a bad thing. I like having a running record of life as it's lived. But it wasn't really what I was looking for.

So I made two minor changes about a week ago that seem to be helping: (1) I cut down my per-page obligation to just one little page a day. A small enough bite that I can work it into my commute, or my the-kids-are-being-read-stories-by-my-better-half time. (2) Journalling is still part of the process, but each day I make sure I also write at least one paragraph of fiction. And I try to keep it a little random. No more of that "there's a guy, and he's sitting in a coffee shop stuff" I tend to write when, as a guy, I find myself sitting in a coffee shop.

So far, it's an improvement. I wrote all but one day over the last week. And with the no-pressure-groove that comes with the one-page minimum, I find I'm shpieling a bit and ending up with a few extra pages most days. All told, I have something like 16 pages from the last week instead of the usual 3-6. Oh yeah, it helped that I also went to a smaller size notebook....

So OK, enough about me. What about youse? Any writing techniques you care to share today, notebookly or otherwise?

Posted by cecil at 8:11 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack