Writer’s Notebook Cycle 2 - Characters facing Adversity

Task Two - Dialogue Basic characteristics: Concise - do not repeat information or explain parts of the plot to the audienceConcise - do not repeat information or explain parts of the plot to the audience Natural - the characters sound like people you would meet or encounterNatural - the characters sound like people you would meet or encounter Movement - characters move, change, and alter the plotMovement - characters move, change, and alter the plot

Tips Try to… Have variety in adversity faced by characters Let a character’s personality show up in the way that they talk Allow multiple interpretations of the events by characters and audience Try to avoid… The same problem or solutions applied to the problem Similar sentence length and vocabulary in different characters Using too many modifiers (shouted, exclaimed, etc) in stage direction as it limits possibilities

Format Example When writing an unpublished script the speaker’s name is capitalized as well as centered. The speaker’s lines are not centered but appear below their name. JOAN How are you? LARKINFine…fine.JOAN That’s not what I was asking. LARKINNo?

Choices in Adversity Select one of the circumstances to base your scene on: 1.Miscommunication/Deception - vital information is not being communicated, or is it deliberately left out? 2.Displacement - characters enter a situation or local that uncomfortable with or others are reacting to characters in this situation 3.Desire - what wants, needs, and desires are unfulfilled in the characters’ lives? What needs are stated or left unsaid? 4.Relationships - does the character change, accept, deny, destroy, or get destroyed by the relationship?