Acting Lesson #2: There's more to what you say than what you say
As an actor, when you say a line, you have to think of about a million things at the same time. Just like real life.
As an author, it really helps to keep this in mind as you write dialogue... Maybe it's just me, but I often find jumping into my character's thoughts and emotions from a section of dialogue challenging--but thinking of it in terms of acting helps me enormously.
First of all, what do you want?
If you don't want something, you wouldn't say anything. Do you want to hurt the other? Do you want to affirm them? Do you want to defy them? The more active verb (that's why they call it acting) you can find for what you want, the better.
This probably seems obvious to most of you, but it was an incredible revelation in my early days of writing.
So here's an excercise: take a page of your dialogue, and for each line you typed, think of two other things your character might have said, and why they chose not to. Then think of what the subtext of their message is, and one or two actions that can convey this. I think you'll impress yourselves.
As an author, it really helps to keep this in mind as you write dialogue... Maybe it's just me, but I often find jumping into my character's thoughts and emotions from a section of dialogue challenging--but thinking of it in terms of acting helps me enormously.
First of all, what do you want?
If you don't want something, you wouldn't say anything. Do you want to hurt the other? Do you want to affirm them? Do you want to defy them? The more active verb (that's why they call it acting) you can find for what you want, the better.
Romeo and Juliet, by Sir Frank Dicksee
What's your plan for getting what you want? This involves rejected responses. You may know exactly what you want, but your mind may take a while coming around to the best line to get it. Who knows? Before Juliet came up with "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" to get _____ (I'll let you insert your own ideas for what she wanted), she may have tossed some other lines about, like, "What the heck are you doing here, you wonderful but completely foolish hottie?" or "Omygosh is there something in my teeth?" and discarded them as completely ineffective.
Besides what you say, what do you mean? And how else are you expressing that?
Remember back to your freshman year of highschool when the popular brat told you she loved your shirt...and you instantly knew she thought you were the scum of the earth, totally unsophisticated, and should probably go hide in a closet now? How did you get that message, that subtext? Was it the tone of voice, the roll of the eyes, the smirk in the corner of her mouth? I've found that recalling and including these details in fiction can take a conversation from boring to emotional in the mere typing of a few words. This probably seems obvious to most of you, but it was an incredible revelation in my early days of writing.
So here's an excercise: take a page of your dialogue, and for each line you typed, think of two other things your character might have said, and why they chose not to. Then think of what the subtext of their message is, and one or two actions that can convey this. I think you'll impress yourselves.
That's a really good exercise - thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely are right, a little subtext can make a conversation or even silence much more interesting. I'm going to have to keep that exercise in mind. Thanks. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to give this a try. I'm always reading too much into things people say. I wonder if I can do that with my writing.
ReplyDeleteI swear sometimes I can see my ms as a movie script. The dialogue is so important and it's always a challenge to provide just the right 'intonation' so that it jumps off the page and people can really hear what they're reading, kwim?
ReplyDeleteThis was a fantastic post! I have a bit of dialouge I'm struggling with right now and I think this might be just the thing to help me get it right. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAh, the theatre. Love it! I also come from an acting background and find that super helpful with writing. :) Great post! (found you through Molly's blog)
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, the thea-tah. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this was helpful to some of you. I always fear that my "revelations" are totally, mundanely obvious to every other writer in the world.
Ok, off to work on some dialogue of my own...(that is, find my OED and check if certain words are completely anachronistic for the middle ages)...
Thanks for visiting!
Nice post, and I like your blog. :) (I came over from Molly's.) A friend of mine has told me writing tips he's learned from acting--or things he already knew about writing, but they were reinforced with acting lessons. So cool how one can help the other.
ReplyDelete