10 Tips for Writing Dialogue for Film and TV

I often find that putting dialogue onto the page for your characters is one of them ore challenging aspects of all writing.

That's because dialogue serves a bunch of purposes in writing. You might be writing exposition or channeling your voice, or giving the character some beats to really explain themselves.

The pressure is always on.

Look, we’ve all been there. You’re staring at a blinking cursor, trying to make two people talking in a diner sound like the next Tarantino or Sorkin.

But what you should really be doing is making them sound natural in your story and sound like characters only you could come up with and embrace.

Here's a few things that have helped me over the years.

The Art of the Subtext (Saying It Without Saying It)

In the real world, people rarely say exactly what they mean. In fact, they almsot never do. If I’m mad at you, I’m not going to say, "I am currently experiencing anger because you forgot my birthday." I’m going to ask if you’re finished with that bagel and then leave the room.

Just ask my wife, she knows how passive aggressive I can be when I'm in a mood. And I bet you are wither like me or know people like me.

And in screenwriting, you want to avoid having people say on the nose dialogue.

The best dialogue is an iceberg. The meaning behind the words is the 10% poking out of the water; the subtext is the massive, dangerous chunk underneath. Your job is to balance the two.

The "Real World" Fallacy

The biggest trap new writers fall into is trying to make dialogue sound exactly like real life. If you transcribed a real conversation, it would be full of "ums," "ahs," and boring tangents about weather. It would be unreadable.

You're writing a movie or TV show, words and pages count.

Screenplay dialogue has this funky thing where it needs to sound natural, but it’s actually stylized. It’s the best version of how people talk. It needs rhythm -- you;re writing something that's akin to music.

Make sure it flows.

Dialogue is a Pacing Tool

Think of your dialogue like a drum kit. Short, punchy lines speed the reader up. Long, flowery monologues slow them down. If you’re writing an action thriller, your characters shouldn't be debating philosophy while dodging bullets...unless you have an awesome scene where they do that because it could work.

But if you don't remember that your dialogue needs to keep the momentum going.

If a scene feels sluggish, look at the page. If it’s a wall of text, break it up. Give the reader some white space. Use the talk to drive the story forward, not to park the car and look at the scenery.

Maybe give them some axtion to do as well, so the actor and reader can see the scene in their mind.

So, how do you actually write better dialogue?

The best trick in the book? Read it out loud.

Gather your friends and do a table read! They're so much fun and so wild.

If you stumble over a sentence while reading it in your office, an actor is going to trip over it on set. Get it off the page and into the air. If it sounds fake, it is fake. Fix it.

'Do The Right Thing'Credit: Universal Pictures

10 Tips for Writing Dialogue for Film and TV

Those were some of my best ideas, but I wanted to put them into ten granular tips that can help beef up what you're trying to do on the page as well.

1. Less is Always More

If you can communicate a feeling with a look instead of a sentence, delete the sentence.

2. Ditch the "Sorkin-Lite" Vibe

Find your voice, stop imitating others.

3. Dialogue Isn't a Data Dump

The second a character starts explaining the plot to the audience, the movie dies.

4. The "Voice" Test

If I can swap the names on the dialogue and it still makes sense, you haven’t done your job.

5. Embrace the Silence

Subtext is everything. Let the emotions simmer under the surface.

6. Screw with the Tempo

Writing is music. Find words that match the tone of the scene.

7. Stop Spoon-Feeding

Trust your audience. They're smart and don't need everything explained.

8. Go Outside and Listen

Go sit at a bar or a Walmart and just listen to how people actually interact. Use it.

9. Be Ruthless

If a line of dialogue doesn't earn its keep, execute it. Less is always more

10. The Breath Test

Before you send that draft to your manager or a producer, read it out loud. If you get bored, they’ll get bored.

Summing It All Up

These are all my ideas that I go through every time I write a new script. They help my dialogue pop off the page and I think they've really helped me define my voice as a writer as well.

Do you have any tips that help you when writing dialogue? Let us know what they are in the comments below!