2017 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 1

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

The last two years at this time, we did a month-long Dialogue-Writing Challenge. It was a big success with dozens of writers participating each session. We all learned quite a bit about this important aspect of the craft plus we had some fun in the process. So I’ve decided to bring it back!

Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 10AM Pacific in January, I will upload a post with a prompt for writing dialogue. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. If you really want to get in the spirit of things, upload your scene here in the RESPONSE SECTION of the original post. That way you can critique others’ pages and receive feedback on your dialogue as well.

To provide extra motivation for this series — to get people to WRITE PAGES — I am giving away some of my Craft classes to Dialogue-Writing Challenge participants. That’s right: For free!

The Craft classes highlight key principles and practices tied to the nitty gritty of writing a script. Here is the Craft lineup, the only time I will teach each of these courses in 2017:

January 16 — Craft: Pixar and the Craft of Storytelling

January 30 — Craft: Story Summaries — From Loglines to Beat Sheets

February 13 — Craft: Handling Exposition

February 27 — Craft: Scene Description Spotlight — Express Your Voice

March 13 — Craft: Character Development Keys

March 27 — Craft: Create a Compelling Protagonist

April 10 — Craft: Write a Worthy Nemesis

April 24 — Craft: Scene-Writing Workshop — NEW! DETAILS: TBA!

May 8 — Craft: Dialogue-Writing Workshop — NEW! DETAILS: TBA!

May 22 — Craft: The Coen Brothers and the Craft of Storytelling

Each is a 1-week online class featuring 7 lectures written by me, lots of screenwriting insider tips, logline workshops, optional writing exercises, 24/7 message board conversations, teleconferences with course participants and myself to discuss anything related to the craft of scriptwriting.

PLUS TWO NEW CLASSES: DIALOGUE-WRITING WORKSHOP AND SCENE-WRITING WORKSHOP!

A popular option is the Craft Package which gives you access to the content in all ten Craft classes which you can go through on your own time and at your own pace, plus automatic enrollment in each 1-week online course. All for nearly 60% the price of each individual class. And special bonus content: 7 lectures on How to Introduce Characters so a script reader will immediately get a clear sense of who each character is… and be entertained in the process.

IF YOU SIGN UP FOR THE CRAFT PACKAGE TODAY, YOU CAN BE SURE OF ENROLLMENT IN ALL 10 OF THE CRAFT COURSES IN 2017.

To qualify to take one of my Craft classes for free, write and submit ten [10] Dialogue-Writing Challenge posts, then provide feedback on ten [10] posts from other writers. The former to get you writing, the latter to work your critical-analytical skills.

A chance to take any of my ten Craft classes, interface with me online along with the usual stellar group of writers who take Screenwriting Master Class courses, while using writing exercises and feedback to upgrade your skill at writing and analyzing dialogue…

ISN’T THAT AN AWESOME IDEA?!!!

A couple of logistical notes:

• Limit your response to 2 pages. Out of fairness to everyone participating in the public dialogue-writing workshop, let’s not abuse anyone’s patience or time with really long scenes.
• Give your scenes a beginning, middle and end. You may enter late and exit early, but provide an arc to each of your posts. Even monologues or telephone conversations, both of which we will be doing this month.
• Don’t be concerned about proper script format when you copy/paste your pages, rather the content and execution are the important thing. So as a default mode, do this: (1) Don’t worry about right-hand margins on scene description or dialogue, just keep typing until it manually shifts each line. (2) Don’t worry about character name position, rather do this:

SCARLETT: Rhett, Rhett... Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?
RHETT: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Today’s prompt: “Every scene is either a fight, a seduction, or a negotiation.” — Mike Nichols. So today, write a dialogue-oriented scene which is a fight.

Husband and wife. Parent and child. Friends. Family. Strangers. Something has gone wrong and the characters in this scene are in the middle of a fight. What are they fighting about? There are the words being spewed, but explore what’s going on under the argument. Give the scene a solid Beginning, Middle, and End. Any genre. Any topic.

Focus on the dialogue to drive the scene, not the action. In most movies, it’s the other way around because movies are primarily a visual medium, however sometimes the script requires a dialogue-driven scene and we need to hone our chops at being able to do that effectively.

Write a 1–2 page dialogue-centric scene, then copy/paste as a RESPONSE.

If you are interested in qualifying for 1 free Craft class with me, please note in each response you submit the number of scenes you have written. If today is your first one, note that it is Scene 1. The next one, Scene 2. And so forth.

Also when you provide feedback on someone’s scene, please note in each reply the number of comments you have uploaded. So if today is your first response, Feedback 1. The next one, Feedback 2.

You are on an honor system, as I don’t have time to check every response, so do the right thing!

Remember: In order to qualify for one of my free Craft classes, you need to submit ten [10] Dialogue-Writing Challenge posts, then provide feedback on ten [10] posts from other writers.

FEEDBACK TIP: Does the fight seem real? If not, maybe you can suggest a way to ground the argument and make it feel more authentic.

It’s the 2017 Dialogue-Writing Challenge! Give a jolt to your creative and writing muscles… and win 1 free online class with yours truly.

NOTE: My Pixar and the Craft of Storytelling course begins Monday, January 16. If you have done all 10 exercises and provided 10 feedback posts by January 15, you are eligible to take that class for free.

Finally if you have a suggestion for a dialogue-writing prompt, please post as a RESPONSE or email me.

To see all of the 2015 Dialogue Writing Exercise prompts, go here.

To see all of the 2016 Dialogue Writing Exercise prompts, go here.