In October, I took an online
dialogue class with Linnea Sinclair. It
was a great class and I learned a lot. If you get an opportunity to study with Linnea, I highly recommend her.
One of the lessons had to do
with beats, those bits of action that are interspersed with dialogue to
illuminate a character's emotions, motivations or intentions. As an exercise,
Linnea provided us with the following dialogue:
“I can’t believe you went out
and bought one,” Erica said.
“Don’t you dare tell Kermit,” Vanessa replied.
“You think he’ll be angry?” Erica asked.
“It’s my money. I saved up for this.”
“Remember, I’m just a phone call away if you need me.”
“Don’t you dare tell Kermit,” Vanessa replied.
“You think he’ll be angry?” Erica asked.
“It’s my money. I saved up for this.”
“Remember, I’m just a phone call away if you need me.”
“I can’t believe you went out and bought one.” Erica stared at the frog-leg cooker on the kitchen table in horror.
“Don’t you dare tell Kermit.” Vanessa removed the fry basket and hefted it, as though calculating how many little green limbs it would hold.
Erica licked her lips and edged toward the door. “You think he’ll be angry?”
Vanessa crossed her arms. “It’s my money. I saved up for this.”
Erica's
head nodded up and down like a Miss Piggy bobble-head as she backed
away. “Remember, I’m just a phone call away if you need me.”
The
doorknob poked her in the small of the back. She whipped through the door and
slammed it behind her.
Try your hand. What would you do with this dialogue?
Your dialogue made me grin. Good way to start a day. :o)
ReplyDeleteI like yours just fine:)
ReplyDelete