How To Write Strong Dialogue

By Christian Blake
May 9, 2009

When it comes to writing dialogue for screenplays, there are two things to keep in mind: brevity and 'plosives'. Brevity is the quality of expressing much in as few words as possible. When characters speak, have them say what they need to say in as few words as possible:

"I'll be back."

"You talking to me?"

"Go ahead, make my day."

When it comes to dialogue, shorter is always better. It's much easier to direct an actress when she only has 5 words to speak as opposed to 100. If you keep your dialogue short and tense, the actors will like you, the directors will like you, and you'll keep your audience awake.

Another trick for strong dialogue is the use of "plosives". Say the word "power" a couple of times. Say it out loud. Do you hear that pocket of air you create when you say the "p"? That pocket of air is called a plosive.

There are seven letters that can create plosives: b (brain), c (coward), k (kill), p (power), q (quill), t (trance), and x (vixen). Another two letters that are close to being a plosive are: g (gag), and d (dead).

Choose plosive-packed words over weaker ones: "blade" over "knife"; "bandit" over "thief"; "slut" over "whore". Great movie quotes thick with plosive-packed words:

"A wealthy scoundrel seduced and betrayed me." - Ronin.

"Dead broad off the table!" - Shrek.

If you want to watch an entire movie with plosive-packed dialogue, check out TOMBSTONE or A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.

Plosives work. Use them in your dialogue, and us them often. If you couple brevity and plosives together, you will always write captivating, ear-grabbing dialogue.

FROM: How To Write A Screenplay.