Review Checklist pt 6 – Dialogue

As with Character, the dialogue’s a little short on points:

• Do the characters speak with unique voices, not just with affectations and speech patterns, but do they speak from a worldview specific to them?
• Was the dialogue overly on the nose, each person just saying what was on their mind.
• Were conversations crisp or flabby?
• Did they bounce from thing to thing or did they overstay their welcome, going round and round until the scene ended?

Now, looking back at this, there are opportunities to add to the bullet list.

• Dialogue should: Reveal character, Move the story forward, Increase tension, Impart important information… Does it?
• Are there any memorable lines?
• Does the dialogue feel like it fits the world? Is there opportunity to do it better? (ie creative horse-based idioms in a western script?)
• Was the dialogue of universal quality? Or did the author only give the protagonist the best lines? (conversely, did a secondary character risk walking away with the script?)

I could conceivably keep going… there’s so much one could say about dialogue. But, these prompts are just meant to get me thinking and offer up some stuff for me to voice some thoughts on in my review. They’re not supposed to be the basis of an insanely thorough dissection of an amateur script. I’m not getting paid enough for that…

(technically, I’m not getting paid at all… at Talentville you earn “talentdollars”, an internal currency that you can use to buy reviews on your own scripts… and I give out a hell of a lot more reviews than I buy)

ScreenwritingU has an excellent class on Revealing Subtext. It’s only $90 and totally worth it. Plus, they often offer these classes at half-price. Though I may be getting those offers because I sometimes tune in to their teleconferences. I suspect I’ll be diving back into that class soon.

Next Up: Writing Style and Wrap-Up