(Contributed by Suzy Spraker)

Objective: The objective of this assignment is two-fold. First, this project is designed to get you paying attention to the world around you, the world you live in and use it for your fiction. The second objective is to practice creating and sustaining dialogue in a scene.

People in real life usually don't have the courage to say aloud things that have to be said in dialogue to keep a story moving. In real life people learn conventions of polite behavior, we talk out of a need to fill up silence and make conversation. But dialogue in fiction is not the place for chit-chat; dialogue can't be just talk. Dialogue must do more than one thing at a time or it is too inert for the purpose of fiction.

Guidelines for Dialogue:

1. Make it feel natural--Pick the right characters to converse with each other and make sure they are talking to each other and not the reader. There should be electricity between the characters involved in the dialogue.
2. Make it feel real--The talk should feel spontaneous, yet move the plot along and deepen the conflict. Characterize speakers-give them something to do. We usually don't just talk, but are active.
3. Make it brief--If the dialogue runs longer than 3 lines, make sure you've got a good reason (such as an argument or tirade) or you're in danger of giving a monologue.
4. Make sure it creates tension or the dialogue (and story) will stall.
5. Make it direct or indirect--depending on the meaning
   • Indirect dialogue--when the narrator tells us what the character said instead of letting the characters talk. "They talked all night in romantic whispers about their love for one another and their plans for the future."
   • Direct dialogue--when characters talk themselves. "I can't live without you," John said.
6. Make sure tags are doing their job-to convey who's speaking. "He said/ she said" are the best tags to use because tags are supposed to be invisible for the reader (even though the writer may feel it redundant). If you want to convey how something is said or convey tension surrounding the conversation, then give the characters some movements, actions gestures, expression.

What Dialogue Does:

1. Dialogue illustrates character by what is said and the way it's said.
2. Dialogue provides necessary background information about events preceding the story. (But be careful. Necessary background information is usually best given in narrative. Watch out for "soap opera" dialogue.)
3. Dialogue should move the plot forward by introducing and maintaining conflict and tension in each exchange.

Procedure:

1. Listen in on a conversation between two or more people. Pay attention to what is said. Write down specific lines that peak your interesting or phrases that are repetitive. You probably won't have the time to record word for word the exact conversation, so get the gist of it first then focus on specific.

2. Move from focusing on the dialogue itself to focus on what people do when they talk. (This may mean getting yourself, ever so subtlety into a position where you can see the speakers.) Note how people move when they talk, what kind of gestures they make with their body, what kind of expressions they have. Note how close they people are from each other. How does distance change as the dialogue moves? How does the speaker's action fit or contradict what is being said? Write as many details as you can.

3. Be subtle. Don't get caught. Most people are not pleased when they realize you're listening to their conversation without being invited.

4. Don't attempt to interrupt the conversation. This assignment is about listening, not interacting.