Making Character Dialogue Sound Natural

Dialogue is the primary and most important component in playwriting. The principal purpose of dialogue

is to advance the action of the play. Though dialogue sounds like natural conversation, every word of

dialogue you write for a character should be crafted to help him achieve his objective.

Here are some of the do’s and don’ts of dialogue:

• Characters shouldn’t, you know, talk perfectly. In life, people don’t speak perfect English

when they converse. Try to recreate realistic-sounding speech patterns. Contractions and being

verbs are helpful!

• Don’t overuse character names in dialogue. People don’t address each other by name in every

sentence they speak (Mary, you look great. Thank you, Tom. Do you want watch a movie, Mary?

Yes, Tom.) Use character names in dialogue early and then sparingly.

• The beginning of a line shouldn’t echo the end of the prior line. The dialogue of one character

need not repeat what was said by the other.

• Avoid dialogue that’s really speechifying. Avoid having characters speak lines and lines of

dialogue without interruption. In life, people usually alternate sentences in conversation, even

cutting in on each other. Try to capture the rhythm of real speech.

• Let Actions, not dialogue, share your theme. Let the theme of your play be conveyed by events,

not dialogue.

Structure of the 3 Act Play

Act 1: Exposition and Rising Action

• Start your play at the exposition of the story: Pick an opening scenario that is just before the

inciting incident that introduces the characters and setting.

• Upset the status quo. Be sure that something happens early on (the inciting incident) to upset the

world of your protagonist, launching their mission to set things right.

• Give your protagonist a critical mission. The audience will get behind your protagonist if what

your protagonist is after — the goal— is urgent, important, and crystal clear to the audience. Make

the protagonist accomplish something noble.

• Get the backstory in. Throughout the play, when it’s necessary to do so, gradually weave into the

dialogue the backstory, relevant events that happened before the start of the play.

• Create a cause and effect structure. Each moment and scene should lead to the next. Avoid

unnecessary events that do not relate to the story’s direction.

Act 2: The Climax

• Be sure that the antagonist provides strong obstacles. The more even the battle, the greater the

suspense.

• Create a climactic moment that brings together your protagonist and antagonist in one final

showdown. The entire play builds toward this moment when the protagonist faces his biggest

obstacle.

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Act 3: Falling action and Denouement/ Resolution

• Come to the earned conclusion. The conclusion should be justified by the events that came

before. An earned conclusion is a relevant and plausible ending that’s appropriate to the story

you’re telling.

• Tie up loose ends in the resolution. This is where you should tie up any unresolved strands of the

story.

Playwriting Vocabulary List

CHARACTER: who the actor pretends to be. (Characters want things. They have goals and objectives.)

DIALOGUE: a conversation between two or more characters.

CONFLICT: obstacles that get in the way of a character achieving what he or she wants. What the characters

struggle against.

SCENE: a single situation or unit of dialogue in a play.

STAGE DIRECTIONS: messages from the playwright to the actors, technicians, and others in the theater

telling them what to do and how to do it.

SETTING: time and place of a scene.

BIOGRAPHY: a character’s life story that a playwright creates.

MONOLOGUE: a long speech one character gives on stage.

DRAMATIC ACTION: an explanation of what the characters are trying to do.

BEAT: a smaller section of a scene, divided where a shift in emotion or topic occurs.

PLOT: the structure of a play, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.

EXPOSITION: the beginning part of a plot that provides important background information.

RISING ACTION: the middle part of a plot, consisting of complications and discoveries that create conflict.

CLIMAX: the turning point in a plot.

FALLING ACTION: the series of events following the climax of a plot.

DENOUEMENT: the final resolution of the conflict in a plot.