Lewis Wood's New Writers Guide

Thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter for new writers. Every two weeks I'll be sending out a tip that I've noticed from my script reading experience, alongside with something you can do this week to improve your writing.

This week's tip: realistic dialogue doesn’t have to mean boring dialogue

If the play we’re writing is naturalistic, we all want to try and write dialogue which seems like it’s real - like it could be the Stanislavskian “slice of life” that we’re looking for. However, one of the issues that can come around with writing this way is that we try so hard to make things realistic that they stop being interesting.

Chris Foxon and George Turvey write in their book “Being a Playwright” (great resource by the way, would really recommend it) that we must not only find an interesting subject matter and characters, but then find a way to make it dramatic for the stage.

Drama is a key point to focus on throughout your writing. First when writing naturalistic dialogue, you should ask yourself “Is this piece of dialogue realistic and believable?”. Then, ask yourself the follow-up question “Is this piece of dialogue interesting?”. Yes, in real life we might see long silences, or mundane conversations that repeat themselves, but on stage we must see things made dramatic.

On the flip side, it’s worth noting that you can make things intentionally not dramatic or mundane, but the most important part there is intention. What point are you making through repetitiveness or mundanity? What does it do to the script and to the characters? Throughout all of this, we must be well-intentioned and specific with how we choose to deliver.

This week's exercise: playing with subtext

Subtext is a huge part of the way that we write, especially within British theatre that can often focus so much on ‘family drama’. It’s a tough technique to get to grips with, as it can easily be overused or made too unsubtle.

For today’s exercise, I want you to look at the way that subtext can completely change a scene. To do this, we’re going to write the same scene three ways but with three different pieces of subtext. And make sure that you write the scene without revealing the secret, so keeping it subtext rather than just text!

Version one: Angus & Beth meet for the first time in a year

Version two: Angus & Beth meet for the first time in a year, but Beth has a secret that she’s trying to keep from Angus

Version three: Angus & Beth meet for the first time in a year, but Beth is desperate for the toilet

Once you’ve written all three scenes, review the difference that the subtext makes in their interactions. How would this change the way that an audience would view the scene?

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