9

Write Dialogue

Everyone is a writer these days. The mass use of computers and the internet in almost every home makes us all potential authors. Whether we’re any good or not is almost irrelevant. The fact is—if you want to write and publish a novel or script, you can. And some novels by outsider authors—like Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James—can become huge successes. Every novel and screenplay needs dialogue—and this is where people demonstrate their skill in naked glory or ignominy. Even some rather well-regarded writers think dialogue is about conflict or Pinter-style parallel monologues. But there is much more to it than that.

  1. The incredible entry trick of writing dialogue is status. Dialogue that is dramatically interesting reveals status differences. Perhaps we are attuned to this for evolutionary reasons. This doesn’t mean higher status is good, it just means an attunement to status better enables one to survive. So, to write great dialogue, first assign status levels to both the interlocutors. This is not social status but rather human-interactive status—for example Hugh Grant may talk like an upper-class Englishman but he acts low status, hence the way he has problems with anyone more assertive than he is. A motor mechanic who is physically imposing and unwilling to play second fiddle to anyone will have higher status in a conversation than an aristocrat dropping off his Audi for a once-over. So before you start writing any dialogue, ask who is the higher-status individual in this time and place. You might think they are equal status—in that case do status switching. One acts high status for a while and then is toppled—maybe by a joke—and then the other gets the high-status position. Friends signify their intimacy by treating status as a joke, or by switching status for comic effect. One sign of high-status play is the absence of a sense of humor during a status challenge. A high-status player will fight rather than relinquish his or her status. Which is where the drama comes in.
  2. It’s important to remember this: high-status people can be happy and positive or mean and negative—and likewise for mid- and low-status people. We often assume that high status means gloomy and curt—the clichéd view of the upper classes in lots of movies—but a high-spirited and happy high-status person is also possible. The rub-pat barrier is balancing realism of dialogue—which is made easier once you have status involved—with meaningful content. Sometimes you have to show people talking nonsense—that’s fine—but eventually the dialogue will have to convey meaningful content. Doing this without being heavy-handed is the balancing act, again made far easier by framing it as a status interaction rather than an information download.
  3. Don’t think character, think relationship when you are writing dialogue. That’s where preset relationships come in handy: mother–son, servant–master, teacher–pupil. A relationship is what interests us, not a bizarre character. A psycho serial killer with all his grotesque rituals will hold our attention for about five minutes, but give him some victims who know him (but don’t know he’s a psycho) and a policeman on his trail, and we’ll be hooked for hours.
  4. Think of people you know and consider their relationship in terms of status. Who dominates and how? Who submits and how? Then imagine a dialogue between them on any subject from football to magic. See how it moves back and forth, one deferring, the other showing off knowledge. Or maybe they take turns in being dominant.
  5. Take a look at Desmond Morris’s Manwatching* to get more ideas about status as it concerns the human primate. If in doubt about dialogue, ask yourself who is the bigger gorilla in any conversation and proceed from there.
  6. Some people are stuck with the high-status role all the time. Others can alternate. Some only do low status in intimate surroundings or in the presence of someone famous. Aristotle Onassis—someone whose status was higher than almost anyone’s—used to act as a very attentive servant to Winston Churchill when the statesman came aboard his yacht. This was because Churchill could only “do” high status. To avoid a clash Onassis switched to playing low status.