Bad Monologues vs Good Monologues (Writing Advice)

Learn what separates bad monologues from good ones. Examples from Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Good Will Hunting, Any Given Sunday, and more!

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The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:

Save the Cat Writes a Novel REVIEW:
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[TheOrganizedWriter]

Monologues can feel like exposition dump, but good ones feel like art!

[mrixnut]

"As we all know Heath Ledger doesn't care about money"

I had to pause the video I was laughing so hard

[imaginepageant]

Fun fact: part of the reason Kat’s monologue in 10 Things I Hate About You sounds natural is that her beginning to cry wasn’t in the script, it was just the actress’s natural reaction in the moment.

[Ale_ER]

Jaime’s monologue to this day makes me angry that he never won an Emmy. It was outstanding

[jarmoliebrand]

Jaime’s monologue… is perfect.

Makes you want to forget “I never really cared for them. Innocent, or otherwise” even more.

[ryan.coogler]

Rocky ended the cold war, I don't see any problems here

[ShinGallon]

All-time favorite monologue. I cannot even think of this scene without getting misty eyed:

“I can’t do this, Sam.

I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

What are we holding onto, Sam?

That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.”


Runner up:

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die."

[minutebooks]

"This fails because it sounds like a Wikipedia summary"
Hahaha 😆
Simon Cowell directness. You're really good at this. 😊

[skidmarxst]

Theoden's Battle Cry in Return of the King always gives me chills.

[OlgaKuznetsova]

Another thing I noticed about the good monologues is that even if you have not seen the movie/show, the monologue stirs something in you. I haven't seen Good Will Hunting or Any Given Sunday, but both monologues gave me goosebumps. I have seen 10 Things I hate About You and that one yet again, made me tear up. Good monologues stand on their own.

[errantwinds-upuu]

"I'm not going to be her brother, and here's why" 🤣🤣 Really looking forward to the new book, Brandon!

[nancyflynn-barvick]

Quint's monologue in Jaws where he talks about what happened when he was on the Indianapolis during the war - - I am mesmerized by that speech every time, no matter how many times I have seen that movie.

[captainiamtherum]

My favourite monologue is hands-down Theoden's speech from Return of the King. Very well written, and the visuals make you feel like you're part of his army as he's talking.

[ISFSProductions]

The Star Wars series "Andor" has a number of brilliant monologues. The ones by Fiona Shaw and Andy Serkis were powerful, but Stellan Skarsgård's monologue on sacrifice gave me goosebumps.

[jamesoakes]

I know you didn't want Game of Thrones to completely dominate this list, but i would have put Tyrion's speech before the Battle of Blackwater here. It's not too long, is almost poetic with how blunt and straightforward he is while reiterating the stakes to the soldiers, and is terrific character development for Tyrion. He shows he understands common people and what motivates them better than most nobles, and for all his flaws, he's no coward. Tyrion was the character you liked and felt sorry for, recognizing how much of an unfair shake he got from the world, but this was the moment the audience got to see him be an unlikely hero.

[Ganychan]

I love that Jaime speech because it's so close to the book and GRRM writes such extraordinary characters in such a compelling way. There is some kind of catharsis in this monologue because we've spent so long hating and judging Jaime that when he reveals he's shades of grey (just like any other character in the series) it's so powerful and it all makes sense. Added to thay is the fact he's not a pov character from the start so you don't know what or how he thinks until later books, and here he's half crazed with physical pain, fever, and the heat from the tub after a rough time in the wild, so it all starts pouring out of him, that's why it's so satisfying.

[AnnoyingMoose]

While Good Will Hunting was released a few years before I got married I didn't get around to seeing it until after my wife had died. That speech was powerful!

[hment.]

One of my favourite new monologues is the one from Stellan Skarsgård in Andor. Such a brilliant speech.

[marcos]

Jaime's monologue still gives me chill to this day.

It pains me how GOOD GoT was...

[fallenhero]

I'm surprised you didn't include Batty's "tears in rain" speech from BLADE RUNNER in here. Not only is it a poetic piece of art, but it changes the whole story and how we feel about Batty. He no longer feels like a villain by the end of his speech.