Aim: What is good dialogue for your main characters?

• Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people.
• Dialogue is essential to fiction writing.
• Dialogue brings characters to life and adds interest.
• Dialogue must do more than just duplicate real speech.
• Writing dialogue consists of the most exciting, most interesting, most emotional, and most dramatic words.

I want you to create a ten line dialogue, working with a partner:


The situations, or you can use one of yours…
• Parent - Teacher: How much money might it take for my son/daughter to get a '90'?
• Friend - Friend: Who's dating whom?
• Teacher Upholding the Integrity of School Rules - Student cheating on a Test: How much is a zero going to hurt?
• Girlfriend Catching Boyfriend with another Girl - Boyfriend Claiming It Was His Sister: Why boy was making out with his alleged sister?
• Teenager - Parent: What possibly Jose could have been doing out until 3:00 A.M.?

• Your 10 line dialogue should:
o Provide Information
o Describe a Place or Character
o Create a Sense of Time
o Create Suspense or Conflict
o Move the Story Forward
o Reveal a Character's Thoughts
o Summarize What Has Happened
o Create a Sense of Place (10 min.)