Daily Dialogue — April 3, 2017

DR. JAFFE: Um…you have no actual medical training?
ERIN: No. I have kids. Learned a lot right there. I’ve seen nurses give my son throat cultures, and what is it? You stick a giant Q-tip down their throat and wait. Urinalysis: You take that dipstick to see if the white count’s high.
DR. JAFFE: Yes, I understand.
ERIN: Yeah. I’m great with people. You’d have to observe me to know for sure. Trust me on that. I’m a fast learner. Show me in a lab once and l’ve got it down. I always wanted to go to medical school. That was my first interest. Then I got married and had a kid too young and blew that. Out of high school, I got a job with Fleuer Engineers in lrvine. I fell madly in love with geology.
DR. JAFFE: Geology?
ERIN: Yeah. I learned how to read maps. Yeah. But I lost my job because my boy got chickenpox, My ex-husband was useless, so… That didn’t really work out. You got a really nice office.
DR. JAFFE: Thanks. Look….

— Erin Brockovich (2000), written by Susannah Grant

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Job Interview. Today’s suggestion by Gisela Wehrl.

Trivia: The real Erin Brockovich-Ellis sold the rights to her story to Universal Studios for a reported $100,000.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Often I recommend writers use an interview scene to get to know their characters, a great way to delve into their background. Here is a good example as in about a minute, we learn a LOT about Erin Brockovich’s background. An efficient way to convey a lot of exposition.