Write better dialogue in 8 minutes.
My best tips to immediately improve the dialogue in your screenwriting. I break down what separates good dialogue from weak dialogue, and demonstrate the differences so you can write memorable lines for your films.
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writing dialogue is the equivalent of drawing hands
You can do It as long as you not I.A?
you don’t realize how hard it is until you try doing it
@@finnvitaly7207nope they have that down now. People posting bad pics have to search though more successes than failures to make the meme now. Not perfect but I havnt had an extra finger in over 500 catgirls
Okay that "listen to how people talk" tip is new to me and one of the most practical exercises for writing. Great stuff!
Where else will you get dialogue, right? Btw, there's a tip a screenwriter said (I just can't remember his name) but he said: "go to the store and record people!" And of course you can change the place. It's on a channel called film courage
Okay...I wrote this comment before continuing the video! 😃He mentions the same trick!
The late, great, crime writer Elmore Leonard did the same thing.
Really? I heard it 3 times in the past 10 minutes
It's a habit I've had since my teens. My friend's teased me for poking my nose anywhere, but I always found it interesting and helpful. I just would catch pieces of conversation (often with very interesting things being said) and revel in its uniqueness (for a particular section of readers [listener friends then]). I highly support this advice. It's very productive. Listen to others conversing, wherever you can.
Allow me to add the following (courtesy of David Mamet): Dialogue is action. When characters speak, it is to accomplish a specific purpose. Good dialogue supports the character's agenda. Bad dialogue is just filler.
What about bad words
@@cothinker680 bad words mess with the grading of your product and should be used only sporadically for emphasis. Overdoing anything good is a bad thing in my opinion.
@@cothinker680 That can be both as a character's attempt to achieve a goal-to intimidate, for example, or to express frustration, or try to convey to someone the severity of a grievance-and as a general personality quirk, as there are people out there who just use a lot of gratuitous profanity.
Filler is the point in a movie like Slacker. There are no rules in art.
@@brunoactis1104Powerful words
I actually really liked the "because you lie to me, and I care about you" line. Sometimes it's good when a character is direct, but I do see that line being said only after multiple interactions of this sort, a bit later in the story.
Me too! That scene was punchier. I think because the characters really wanted something from each other. A desperate honesty from the mother, emotional avoidance from the daughter.
I want a fusion- keep mom’s lines similar to what they were, and the daughters like the rewrite. It’s also real that different characters speak in different levels of directness- and some can’t or choose not to read into subtext.
Ahh, subtext - the autistic writer's bane. I wish people actually talked like in that first example. What's this wishy-washy "remember when you used to come home and be all excited to tell me about your day"? Am I supposed to understand from that that you're worried about me? Because what I hear is that you want something to baby and control, and you probably should've gotten a dog instead of me. Be clear, damn it. Be honest. How can you expect me to understand what you're trying to tell me if you'll do everything in your power to avoid actually *telling me*. If I can't be a 'good writer' without turning every conversation into a game of riddles, then I'll just be a bad writer, man. People already refuse to make sense in real life, at least let me have that in fiction.
@@trishapellisREAL, like, as an autistic writer myself, the subtext thing annoys the crap out of me. And even then I'm still able to give dialogue multiple layers of meaning and still pull it off and I love it when that happens but the subtext thing is a pain in the ass. For me, I would have different types of characters, some who would be more direct while others aren't. People that are more shy and less confrontational are more likely to speak with subtext. I also look at the goal of the scene, like what I want achieved in this scene and the importance of the communication (two people meeting about saving world = more direct, two friends strolling through park that miss how much they used to talk = less direct). For me, if ALL of my scenes had subtext it'd be really confusing, I mainly use it when there isn't time pressure and/or the person feels self conscious about blatantly saying what they mean
@@trishapellis also, the line isnt even GOOD subtext bc the literal text is "youre gonna go out with boys?" While the subtext just tells me "you never tell me anything anymore" and "i want you to be a baby again". Theres also no reason for it to be subtextual at all, mom's don't randomly beat around the bush like that, theyre more direct specially if it's an ongoing issue. Maybe the mom could end her lines with "because i miss it when you would come back home excited to tell me about your whole day. I miss not being scared youre gonna get hurt." If you want it to be "subtle" for some reason
Great dialogue in fiction sounds like what you WISH you sounded like in real life conversations
Exactly. "I'm Chandler Bing!" came to mind. 😂 R.I.P. Perry
The way that dialogue lessons praise subtext, it makes me wonder how they'd write a character telling someone the house they're in is on fire.
I think you use subtext to express emotions, and more direct dialogue to express action.
Yeah right lol
It's just aurora borealis
"The heat of my passion is reflected in the world above me." - A Dog, in a Burning Building
I really enjoyed your video, however let me argue with one thing. When the mom-daughter scene is implied with subtext, the dialogue becomes sooo unrealistic to me, it throws me off immediately. I see many-many movies write dialogue like this, and I hate it! :D I've never met anyone who would reminisce about deep things like this out of the blue. In my experience (of watching my parents argue for 20 years for example), people generally don't argue about the underlying issue. They argue about some minute surface-level detail that's unimportant, but they argue like it was the end of the world. So in this case, the mom would bash a specific guy she knows her daughter could meet or something like that, don't you think? I think screenwriters tend to forget they are more intellectual and psychologically motivated than the average person they try to portrait. So don't let your tips of "being concise, specific and motivated" overshadow your tip of "listening and copying how genuine people talk"! Anyway, congrats on a nice video and thanks for making me think about this.
I wasn’t super happy with it either and think you make a good point. I have to move fast making these videos but that subtext scene probably deserved another draft.
Nailed it. Very well said.
I actually really liked it. Maybe the comparison to the non-subtext one helped it along but I honestly think the main drawback was the acting. The dialog itself(minus some conciseness) was solid, IMO.
This is a great point. Either way, it's better than the comparison of not having any subtext
I get what you’re saying, but sometimes realism is very mundane and boring. The point of subtext is to get the audience thinking of what could be churning on in the mind of the character, Instead of the character spewing out a surface-leveled lines that are incredibly boring
Real-world conversation and dialogue is completely different. Real-life conversations are messy, discombobulated, distracted and unfocused. Film dialogue can use those tropes to create a raw or heightened aesthetic or feel but film dialogue should be highly purposeful, focused and every word should have intent and provide value or insight to the story or the characters themselves. 99% of real life conversations are boring, reserved, surface level and do not tell us anything about the characters or their wants/needs. You should listen and understand raw conversations as to understand peoples hiccups and hijinks and use them for affect, but I would not copy the conversations as they are highly bland in the context of nearly any film. Just thought I would mention this as I feel like this is slightly overlooked.
Real life conversation boring?
@@cothinker680 Boring to an audience that has to sit through a long winded conversation (if it was on screen) but not boring for those that are active in the conversation. I think that's what they meant. If that conversation is important, the medium for it would be a podcast.
@@videofandude99absolutely. Perfectly put.
I also think the important takeway here is getting some character voice. Real life conversations include each person's specific and, well, personal touch to each sentence. Especially your main characters, but basically any reoccuring character in your story needs such a voice as well. But then again: The dialogue must contain also purpose, attack and defense, a clear goal for the character (which can also be escaping the dialogue) and be ideally also relevant to the plot, if the character revealing part comes flat. And real life conversations just don't do that.
Facts
in my opinion, writing good dialogue comes down to making your character speak a thousand words with just a few; kinda like a verbal version of "show, don't tell" and those words are like mirrors: they need to resonate with the character themselves and with their own thoughts, beliefs and ambitions in the moment
Glad to find a filmmaker on KZhead with zero BS and actual good advice to give! The "Generic vs. Specific" is one that has guided me the most lately. I don't remember where I saw this, but an advice about screenwriting I read two years ago, and one that has stuck with me since, is to try your hardest to write realistic dialogue on your first draft, as in: with each new line, you should stop and think "What would a real person reply to this?". And then, on subsequent drafts, you go back and add quirks, flourishes and punchy lines to your characters. The idea was that there is nothing that "sounds" like bad dialogue as dialogue that is unrealistic. And as much as I'm far away from an "experienced" filmmaker/writer, I've noticed this helped improve my writing the most. Anywho, great video!
Scratching the names is a nice technique to check on your script! I usually set the characters styles first and what would be maybe their signature word or line or way of talking and just go! But checking on it afterwords is definitely a good tip! 🤔
I like this channel, i like how you're getting to the point with example rewrites, make this "better dialogue" a series please, thank you for your work
I would pay EXTRA $$$ for this dialogue series since this is a hard to teach skill! Count me in!!
@@videofandude99 don't give him any ideas dude 😂
i once was an intern for a commercial studio and the thing i never forgot was them saying "don't shoot what's unnecessary" and that stuck with me... it was honestly such good advice and whenever i write or do a shot i keep thinking what the story behind it is and if it is good for the story or just a filler! and these tips of yours are great! i'm gonna try the convo tip fr since im in my last year of my film major and gotta write a script for a short film so this is amazing.
Kent, you are quickly becoming my favorite filmmaking youtuber. I look forward to every video you produce.
This is insanely high quality. I love the style of the video and how concise you give information, while also not making it sound like a boring lecture
These tips are pure gold. I love that you did that scene 2 ways, really shines a light on the contrast.
A useful example of good dialog to study would be O Brother Where Art Thou. Each of the three main men: the quick-wit, the everyman and the simpleton, has their own way of speaking and forming sentences, and the audience can tell who is who just through dialog within the first five minutes.
Hey Kent. Just wanted to let you know I really appreciate these videos because I know they were made for screenwriting but they've also helped me immensely with writing my next fantasy novel since the advice is so incredibly useful! Great work 👍
I actually love long winded dialogue. Big Tolkein and Lovecraft fan.
It has its place! But it definitely takes more skill to pull off. I could listen to Tarantino's dialogue all day.
Agreed. It's a matter of style, but I tend to avoid the short attention span books with the clipped dialogue and zero descriptives. Lovecraft has his flaws, of course, but I prefer reading his "flawed" work much more than the generally accepted bland styles.
I'm genuinely unhappy that this channel doesn't get the attention it deserves. From everything I've seen here, these videos are pure gems for filmmaking and more importantly, first time filmmakers. Keep it up, Kent.
"If you can't think of anything unexpected that your character might say, then unfornately the problem might lie with the fact that you're writing a story based around an inherently uninteresting character" I loved that, felt terrible but actually made me realize just how fckin boring some of my characters are. Imma rewrite them
It all depends on context and character traits. Some characters might be the strong silent type, letting their actions do their talking.
Thank you for being concise and humble in your video. Your approach to offering advice is refreshing.
I found your channel a little over a week ago and have binged so many of your videos. You are a gem for teaching filmmaking. Keep up the great work!
I've learned more here than I have taking film classes in SF and LA at different schools. Kent gets to the point without meaningless fillers to meet the requirements for youtube's monetization and his info doesn't get lost in translation.
Im making my second short film and had 3 main issues with it. I looked at your channel for two seconds and saw 3 videos on my exact 3 issues and this is one of them. Thank you
Sir you actually analysed The Room script 😂 I think I love this channel.
Thank you! Always learning, always elevating. Your clarity is super useful, i’ll be back for more!
Love this channel. Great content but also so unique. I'm sure I've watched a ton of videos on writing better dialogue but all of these feels so fresh and original!
Thanks so much!
Recently discovered you and I'm a bit pissed that the algorithm didn't show you earlier. Great content that helps and motivates us on our journeys
Seriously underrated channel, in quality this is similar or even exceeds the quality to StudioBinder!
Watching this as an author, very helpful, especially the bit about observing the way particular people speak in contrast to how you speak.
Dude, your content is awesome! Loving your insight and videos, keep ‘em coming brother!
thank you so much for reminding me to work on my movie script lmao
Oh come on! The Room dialogue is GENIUS! 😂
Discovered today. Watched lots of videos. One of the best channels on KZhead. Congratulations. And thank you.
Great video! I think the main thing I struggle with when writing a script is coming up with good dialogue that sounds just right and not cheesy to too bland. It can be a very difficult thing to pull off, and this video helps a lot in figuring out how I can approach dialogue in future projects.
Man! This is the first vid about dialogue that's useful to me. Thanks for the examples.
Record people's conversation and write it in a script format is the best advice in terms of dialogue writing ❤️❤️👍👍
This channel has been so useful, thank you !
Thank you❤. I needed this, my brain was going blank on my dialogue and the tiny amount I was coming up with SUCKED and listening to you I just came up with something that I can build on.
Awesome video! Definitely needed to hear this! Thank you!
There is a lot of bad dialogue in real life. Meanwhile, we keep on repeating what good or bad dialogue is according to what a few have said what is good or bad dialogue. Are we being just parrots?
Just found your channel today, and I am hooked! Subscribed, and sticking along!
bro... you are literally my personal film coach
Great video, as always, Kent!
Wow, this is excellent…I’m trying to learn a little more about writing and especially dialogue…I didn’t have a clue where to start this video has given me a framework to get started practicing. Thanks so much..
THATS INCREDIBLE! Thanks to this amzing tips. I'm goin to aplly then.
I’ve watched thousands of dialogue videos, this is by far the best.
00:14 🗣 Good dialogue is concise, specific, layered, and memorable, as opposed to bad dialogue which is long-winded, generic, surface-level, and disposable. 01:09 🦹♂ Villains are often talkative, so contrast them with a hero who has short, terse dialogue for dynamic scenes. 01:39 ✂ Improve dialogue by cutting down unnecessary or redundant lines, making it more impactful and insightful. 03:46 🗣 Make each character's dialogue specific by ensuring they have unique speech patterns, vocabulary, and quirks. 04:55 🎧 Eavesdrop on real conversations to understand how people talk naturally, and incorporate those nuances into your dialogue. 05:24 🤔 Utilize subtext to add depth and meaning beneath the literal surface of the dialogue, creating more engaging conversations. 07:01 🎭 Memorable dialogue is unexpected and specific, so try to surprise the audience while still staying true to the character's personality.
Beautiful work! Thanks
You deliver yet again!
Great video. Very insightful
All of your videos are really helpful! Thanks
Flipineck! I've got tons of video's giving advice, this is by far the best, Thank You !
Another dope video!🔥
Thank you for the advice!! You made them sound so much easier to apply than the general "show dont tell" :D On the last point of unexpected dialogue, how do you know that you are not overdoing it? Do you instinct it or?
I literally mouthed Daniel Day-Lewis' line at the end. Classic!
Another great video. Thank you!
dude the bad subtext short is amazingly funny...and some of your tips are actually the opposite of what you want to do for certain types of comedy(I know you know this, knowing rules are great, so if you break the rules you are doing it on purpose, for a desired effect) but I have to give you as a teenage girl mad props...hilarious.(also sometimes like The Room, things are hilarious because all of the rules are broken and it is literal meta-dramatic irony, because the people making it don't know what they are doing at all.) Props...thumbs up...cheers.
This is a KING channel.
I see what your saying about subtext, and I do agree that sometimes it's nice to hear a more subtle way of a persons meaning but I thought the first example of the mother and daughter was more realistic to how people actually talk. Or at least how a mother would talk to her daughter. The point was good but I think the example was a bit off. Maybe it's just me?
Both are wrong for the situation. The first is too on the nose, but in the second the mom is way too open. Any mom knows if you open up to your moody teenager about how cute they were when they were a kid, you're gonna get snark back! It doesn't feel right, I'd rewrite it so the mom says things like "have fun, just the girls huh". And then the daughter reply "OK... Sure mom". The mom should say things to imply she'll check up on the girl and the girl be withdrawn or defensive.
Awesome stuff, love it
Thanks for this brother, great assist.
These are all great tips. I actually think your dialogue scene showcasing subtext vs surface-level could use some work. Typically I think it’s best to find a middle ground between all subtext and all surface-level. As you said, listen to people talk! People don’t say what they mean, but they also don’t bury everything they want to say under layers of subtext. Oftentimes, it’s a mix of both, and the best dialogue ride that line very well.
I listen to a lot of videos with closed captioning because it helps me focus. I lost focus when in one example the CC did not match the words and I had to pause the video to laugh. "I love the smell of *my pum* in the morning!"
This is excellent advice thank you 🙏
👏🏾👏🏾 great content!!
Very surprised how much higher quality your work is than pretty much all the rest of filmmaking KZhead
I'm a restaurant manager and formerly bartender and I still cannot help but thinking of *that* line anytime someone orders Merlot.
I don't remember which famous author said this, but they said : "Subtext is for cowards". Tho I'm not published yet, I wanna ask them "what the hell are you smoking!?"
I heard the tip about memorable lines. What about lines that are so bad they are memorable? For example, “It's over Anakin, I have the high ground.”
“You underestimate my power!”
Brandon Sanderson writes very good dialogue by using the background of a character and the background of the world to make the language specific to each character, so that all the characters can be identified by the words they say and the way they say them.
Great stuff
I tried to write down the conversation from a video i recorded of my friends and family looking at a guy trying to cut a branch and the conversation there made about same amount of sence as the dialogue in The Room before you edited it lol
I just used this to simplify a monologue and went from 4 pages to 3 without losing meaning. Great tips
“Less of a bad thing is always a good thing.”
Awesome. Subbed👍🏽
Thank you. Thats's informative. Btw you are a good actor.:)
tysm master SSC!!!!
2:00 - I'll defend the room here; the dialogue in the room is lifted 1:1 from the book it's adapting, but in the book many of these lines are thoughts and narration, written verbatim Iike that. The subtext and meaning is there,but the changed ending means we never get the twist that puts those lines into context.
The thing about the memorable line is so true. When i was little my sister used to always quote a bronx tail "Do you know how to make sauce? You know, sauce, for macaroni." It was such a random line but it still fit
Hahaha you're hilarious that "room" joked killed!
Solid tips.
thank you!
there will be blood gets an honourable mention n i am All the way in with this dude. love love love this video
marker to the page of a screenplay, good example
Most of my dialogue is concise, specific, and surface-level with some mild memorability. I mostly write comedy, and I love visual storytelling over verbal, so dialogue for me is more often than not a means to an end, and the joke is a huge visual cue. I am good at keeping the characters' personalities unique. When going through scripts it's quite easy to tell which character said which piece of dialogue sans character name.
KZhead mentor 🔥🔥
Thank u!
Thank you
You are DIGGING this wig mate
Another important thing I’ve seen in films where the dialogue hits harder, is when there’s no music carrying the emotions
Useful advice, beautifully delivered!
Consice. 😂 where is spellcheck in video editing software? Love your lessons!
5:58 WHAT KINDA DAUGHTER IS THAT MAN. WUT
6:28 When a good piece of dialogue is being delivered at the right timing for the right scene, it makes your heart tickles, no matter how brief and simple the scene is, or even without much context of the plot. I don't think it was cheesy at all.
3:41 I know next to nothing about the Room. But I think we're going for a guy whose lost in his own world but still has deep insight, then him going off on a flowery speech about love makes the world a better place WORKS!
“If the scene is about what it’s about, you’re in trouble” - smart heard another once man
Great video! My characters can't seem to shut up and they are going to be very disappointed I watched this. LOL!
Ironically “oh hi mark” is one of the most memorable lines ever 😂
Good video!! 🔥🔥 also u look like FOUR from divergent 😂😂