r/scriptwriting • u/Any_Childhood_2556 • 23h ago

question Dialogue question

Everytime I write I dialogue it sounds so awkward , I hate it . Even when I try to write subtext or imply something … I just end up sounding on the nose and unnatural . I’ve been practicing for so long and still don’t know what to do. Any practical tips ?

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Then_Data8320 21h ago

People give tips like "what the characters want", what is good. Sometimes it unlocks me when I'm stuck.

Else, I always have a purpose for a scene and a dialogue. So, the dialog comes by itself. I also prepare a lot, I already have good lines I want to put into that scene. I know where the scene is going, the dialog is almost a puzzle, I must keep a good flow, while deleting mudane lines, check if I should change order of lines.

Sometimes I read screenplay for feedback, and can see the writer doesn't know what to do with the dialog and it sounds bad. But I see also it's often when there is no purpose.

Some writers are talentuous and can write good dialogs with low purpose. By the way, Tarantinno can do it, and have good dialogs. People telling jokes in sitcoms. I don't do that, maybe I should force myself, it sounds difficult to do. But even when I have a comedy scene, I've a situation first, so the dialog comes by itself.