• Julius Topohozin

Writing dialogue for plays is a skill you can develop. Dialogue is simply the communication between two persons. It is the lifeblood of drama. It is through it that a reader can understand what a play is about. Knowing the importance that dialogue plays in a work of art will require a writer to master how to write good dialogues.

 

In this article, I will be discussing eleven steps to writing a good dialogue that will make your reader stay glued to your play.

 

1. Do a character sketch

Before even embarking on writing a play, it is important to do what is called character sketch. Character Sketch is a template that explains in details everything about your character whether the character is the main or flat. Having a character sketch will enable you to determine the way your character speaks, his level of education and his motivations and inclinations.

 

2. Infuse your dialogue with actions

What is a conversation without body movements? If you write dialogue that is not infused with actions, your play will become tasteless. Every conversation is usually laced with actions.

 

3. Cut out unnecessary words

Writing a good dialogue for your play will require you to cut out words or whole sentences that are not adding to the flow of the plot. Unnecessary words will slow down the dialogue and make you write more words than is necessary.

 

4. Listen to real life conversations 

Part of writing a good dialogue is listening to the way people talk alongside their reactions to things. When you observe the way people talk, it can help you build real dialogues among your characters.

 

5. Read your dialogue aloud 

Reading your dialogue aloud will help spot redundant words or words that do not inflect the action you are trying to describe in the minds of your readers.

 

6. Your dialogue must be progressive

A good dialogue is such that leads to another action which drives the play to the climax, and subsequently to when the curtain falls. If your dialogue is not leading to the next action, you will lose your audience or readers in the way.

 

7. Show, not tell

A good dialogue will show the reader or audience what each character represents and how their attitude to life or situations determines their reactions through their conversations.

 

8. Use contractions 

Good dialogues are usually in contraction because even in real life conversations, we often limit the number of words we use in a conversation.

 

9. Give your characters their unique voice

Another way to write a good dialogue is to give your characters their unique voice. There is a clear difference between the way Chume and  Brother Jero speak in Wole Soyinka’s The Trial of Brother Jero. Their choice of words and level of education, sets them apart.

 

10. Create conflict and tension

Drama thrives best on conflicts and tensions. When you inject conflict into your play, it makes it more interesting. Consider the shift in conversation from mild to angry outbursts between Odewale and King Adetusa in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not To Blame. This conflict also led to the untimely death of King Adetusa, making Odewale fulfill the first part of the prophecy.

 

11. Build in subtext

A subtext is what your characters are doing but which they are not saying. It is through the subtext that we can understand what a character is thinking about but is likely not saying out loud to the other character(s).

Conclusion

Good plays are those with great dialogues. Great dialogues move the story forward and also entertains the audience or readers. Do you what to write great dialogues? Follow the steps shared above and you will write good dialogues for plays.

 

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