DIALOGUE – THE ESSENTIALS

The purpose of dialogue in a drama script may seem obvious; it’s the talking bit – right? Of course. But it is also the hardest part of screen writing to get right. This is because the level of artistry necessary to really deliver credible, engaging, emotionally resonant dialogue is high and not even experienced, commissioned writers get it right all the time.

I have been lucky enough to work with some of the best dialogue writers in the business, which is a curse in a way, because I realise now, after reading scripts on a freelance basis for a number of years, that fantastic dialogue in a screen play is a relatively rare thing.

Dialogue carries a hefty weight in a television script; less so in film. Television is more akin to radio than film, in that respect.

The key to writing dialogue well is to remember that there is a surface job that needs to be done here, via the words your characters speak, but that the subtext to all dialogue is of equal importance.

When it comes to writing dialogue make sure you do not just deliver the surface impact, ensure to go underneath what is said.

There’s lots of advice out there on dialogue and how to write it well for the big and small screen.

So here, I aim circumvent that which is not essential for you to digest, so you don’t bloat out with un-necessary writing-tip calorie. I want you to only wolf down the most essential, most protein-packed morsels of scripty sustenance. So, who’s hungry?

THE PROTEIN PACKED MORSELS OF A DIALOGUE DINNER:

1/ PUSH YOUR TEXT FORWARD:
In a scene, ask yourself: ‘what needs to be said here in order to engage the audience in the plotline? What nugget of information must I get across here?

2/ IDENTIFY YOUR SUBTEXT:
Clarify for yourself, what is the subtext; that which is not said, in each character case. In a scene, ensure you suggest the presence of this subtext by what your character doesn’t say. Remember that actions also speak loudly on screen.

3/ DRIVE WITH MOTIVATION:
Use the motivation of each character to push the pace forward in a scene. What motivates a character to speak as they do, gives energy and adds interest to a scene.

4/ MAKE IT RELEVANT:
The dialogue in a scene must reflect the time, place and timbre of the world you describe. Keep the observations, comments and allusions made by your characters, relevant to both the world of your story and your audience.

5/ DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTERS:
Dialogue adds texture and tone to your characters. What a character says, what motivates them, what they hide, all adds dimension on screen. Remember, a character is on a journey in a script, and their dialogue represents their personal narrative. Keep dialogue pertinent to character. Ask yourself: ‘what do I want the audience to learn about this character; what do they need to learn about themselves, in this scene?’

Listen to how people speak. There is a rhythm, pacing and nuance that comes out in colloquial, flowing dialogue, try to ape this in your writing.

In conversation, people rarely actually sit and listen to a complete speech. We are a race of interrupters. We over-lap, cut short, change direction and repeat ourselves. I would not, however, advocate repetition in dialogue unless it is a character point you are highlighting. On screen repetition is even more irritating than in real life.

Failure plus practise makes screenwriting better. It will never be easy. But your results will be better each time.

There are two main purposes to dialogue in screenplays.

1/ To Push The Story Forward.
2/ To Reveal Character.

Keep those points in mind. Keep practising and if you need help, contact me http://www.scriptadvice.co.uk

SCRIPT EDITING – THE LOW DOWN

I was a Script Editor on Eastenders. That’s how I started in the television industry.

Prior to my baptism of fire on the then twice weekly popular soap from the BBC, I had been running a script development company called The Deptford Wives out of the Birds Nest Pub in Deptford and was getting quite a bit of attention from writers, producers and agents all interested in new writing.

It was fun, Martin, the pub landlord, had cut a deal with my friend and I, that if we increased his bar sales on the nights we did our rehearsed script readings, we could keep the takings from the ticket sales and he wouldn’t charge us for the use of the theatre space upstairs. I was skint as always seemed to be in those days. I had been an actress but soon realised it was the script that fascinated me rather than the delivery of that work via acting. I had over the years, become obsessed with scripts; the writing of them, the reading of them, the working with them, and also my favourite people were writers.’ I loved to discuss their work, to break down their plotlines, to talk about character, story beats, drama, resolution, conflict; you’ve heard all the lingo and to me, in those early days of my script editing career, I swallowed anything to do with writing, technique and expression for the stage and screen.

So I was passionate about writing but so far had failed to land myself a job that paid the rent and the rest.  And then one night, having totted up the night’s takings and realised with relief that I could now meet my rent that month, someone said ‘have you ever thought of script editing?’ Script whating? Was probably something like my response (it’s all a bit vague – it was a million years ago – 1990 to be exact). 

I looked into it. Script Editing was something they did in television, but it was actually what I had been doing for ages, but I and those theatre types I associated with, called it Dramaturgy. Which is odd enough, sounding, as it does, like a cough syrup but I liked dramaturgy, I was good at it and if that’s what script editing was then I was sure I could do it for television and the bonus being it appeared, from the research I did (there was no internet then; it’s an astonishing fact to write, but totally true that no-one I knew in the early ’90’s had a computer) it seemed the job paid and regularly too!

I was really lucky. Helen Greaves and Leonard Lewis (producers of Eastenders) were looking for someone who was interested in writing and scripts in general and not someone who was a keen fan of the show. Which was just as well, because I got all the names of the characters (apart from I think, Dot Cotton) wrong at my interview but talked well and most probably with a barrow-load of enthusiasm about drama, writing, characterisation, story-telling, and what it was that I loved about the business of telling stories to a wider audience.

I say all this because a good script editor (and I sincerely hope you only work with good ones) will have similar interests and passions as I blabbed on about that day at Elstree Production Offices and an expert script editor will be not only able to improve your script with confidence, but will make the process enjoyable and even stimulating. A fantastic script editor, the best, the sort of course that I hope I managed to morph into over the years that I did the job, will improve your work, give you a very enjoyable experience and after the final draft has been delivered and your baby is twinkling away under the studio lights on the day of principal recording, you will probably not be able to recall how it was that you changed your original plot twist to this much better one in Sc 20 or the process that resulted in that marvellous cliff hanger that so seamlessly bleeds into those iconic drum beats as the famous signature tune kicks in. 

But a process was most definitely followed and your script editor was taking you through it, draft by crafted draft, it was done with humour, some delicacy and a lot of solid, common-sense.  

A good, expert, fantastic script editor will be able to give you script notes (some large, some small, some irritating, some illuminating) without you, the writer, ever feeling exposed, or unsure, without ever feeling that your work is being ridiculed, overly-criticised or downright changed too much.

The writer on any long running show is an essential part of the dramatic process because obviously, without them, there wouldn’t be a script.  However, although the writer is very important, on a long-running, story-gobbling, writer-exhausting, fast-running train that is the drama series format, it is the relationship between the script editor and the writer, that is, in many ways, more important. 

The key to a good relationship with your script editor is collaboration and an ability on you, the writer’s part, to let go a bit (and this may make some of you un-used to the idea of team work within a large series feel a bit sick).

The script editor assigned to your script has a job to do which involves several layers; it is a complicated and demanding job, but the main element of their job is to deliver your script to camera, to length, with all the correct story beats, character development and plotlines in tact, with the correct amount of ad breaks and a fabulous cliff hanger TO DEADLINE.  If you don’t invest in the relationship between your script editor and yourself, if you find it hard to take notes and make the process an un-easy, un-enjoyable one, the process falls apart quickly and it’s that much harder for everyone to get the script you are writing, to camera and on time. 

The script editor sits in the sometimes rather turbulent waters between the writer, and the producer of the show you are writing for. It is their job to pass on all the producer’s concerns and notes on your draft to you, without drawing any blood or hopefully generating any tears.

The script editor will also have their own opinion on your script. They will have had their input heard by the producer before you came to your edit session and the director will also, at (most usually at a later stage) have their input too.

Bearing in mind that your script, your baby, is just one element of a much bigger picture, the script editor must be: diplomatic, eloquent, direct, confident, hard-wired into how to make drama happen on the page, funny helps and good at collaboration.

This is because it is not always possible to transfer all a producer’s notes to the writer without the writer feeling beleaguered or without commiting the cardinal sin of puncturing a writer’s confidence. I say this because as soon as you are commissioned, and you are part of a writing team on a long-runner, everyone it will seem, will have an opinion on your work.

Notes will come from all sides and it takes a very good, competent and confident script editor to dilute the voracity of some notes, to deliver others in an oblique way, or to ignore the note altogether. Sometimes this is a tactic to save a perhaps new writer from too many script notes, and other times it’s because the script editor did not agree with the producer’s note and has decided that in the mix of all the changes necessary, the producer will not notice if this note fails to be carried forward. (This tactic doesn’t always work. A very successful producer of series drama who shall remain nameless, was like a heat seeking missile regarding his notes and if I had tactically decided to ‘ignore’ any, the fallout was heard all the way to the Thames Barrier).

Script Editing is a job that demands innovation and a creative brain. A good editor will be able to infuse more drama into your script, give you suggestions of better or more numerous plot twists, direct you into more interesting territory via a character or group of characters and generally enthuse you into doing a better draft at each session.  It’s also a collating, organising, structuring job. According to the rigours of that particular show, there will be so many sets allowed, so much location, and in every block of scripts there will be a certain amount of characters that must be catered for in story terms. There’ll be a story document that the script editor may or may not have had an input in compiling, and you will both use this to keep you to the correct plotline and deliver the correct drama beats so that your script will pick up and hand over the storyline at the right point. It’s a job that demands the juggling of information both creative and administrative. 

So they work hard these script editors. And they often do so behind the scenes as it where. The writer (and quite rightly so) gets the credit for the marvellous script and hopefully continues to get commissioned as part of the writing team and the script editor gets to do it all over again with the next block of scripts.

Look out for the script editor as the credits roll. They’ve certainly earned their place.