Write better dialogue in 8 minutes.

My best tips to immediately improve the dialogue in your screenwriting. I break down what separates good dialogue from weak dialogue, and demonstrate the differences so you can write memorable lines for your films.

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About me:
I've been making short films for 20 years, starting at age 11. I directed my first feature film, Bad is Bad, in 2010. Made for only $6,000, the film went on to reach over 7 million views and garner critical acclaim. More recently, my short film, Will "The Machine", screened and won awards at film festivals around the world. Released online in 2019, it reached over 1 million views in just a month. I also work as a video editor, cutting ads for clients such as Apple, Netflix, and Beats by Dre.

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[mrsparkle]

writing dialogue is the equivalent of drawing hands

[AllenUry]

Allow me to add the following (courtesy of David Mamet): Dialogue is action. When characters speak, it is to accomplish a specific purpose. Good dialogue supports the character's agenda. Bad dialogue is just filler.

[ComicPower]

Great dialogue in fiction sounds like what you WISH you sounded like in real life conversations

[lonewalkerproductions]

Okay that "listen to how people talk" tip is new to me and one of the most practical exercises for writing. Great stuff!

[gobah]

I actually really liked the "because you lie to me, and I care about you" line. Sometimes it's good when a character is direct, but I do see that line being said only after multiple interactions of this sort, a bit later in the story.

[XX-sptt]

The way that dialogue lessons praise subtext, it makes me wonder how they'd write a character telling someone the house they're in is on fire.

[hmarci]

I really enjoyed your video, however let me argue with one thing. When the mom-daughter scene is implied with subtext, the dialogue becomes sooo unrealistic to me, it throws me off immediately. I see many-many movies write dialogue like this, and I hate it! :D
I've never met anyone who would reminisce about deep things like this out of the blue. In my experience (of watching my parents argue for 20 years for example), people generally don't argue about the underlying issue. They argue about some minute surface-level detail that's unimportant, but they argue like it was the end of the world. So in this case, the mom would bash a specific guy she knows her daughter could meet or something like that, don't you think?
I think screenwriters tend to forget they are more intellectual and psychologically motivated than the average person they try to portrait. So don't let your tips of "being concise, specific and motivated" overshadow your tip of "listening and copying how genuine people talk"!
Anyway, congrats on a nice video and thanks for making me think about this.

[solhibberd]

Real-world conversation and dialogue is completely different. Real-life conversations are messy, discombobulated, distracted and unfocused. Film dialogue can use those tropes to create a raw or heightened aesthetic or feel but film dialogue should be highly purposeful, focused and every word should have intent and provide value or insight to the story or the characters themselves. 99% of real life conversations are boring, reserved, surface level and do not tell us anything about the characters or their wants/needs. You should listen and understand raw conversations as to understand peoples hiccups and hijinks and use them for affect, but I would not copy the conversations as they are highly bland in the context of nearly any film. Just thought I would mention this as I feel like this is slightly overlooked.

[blackjovian]

in my opinion, writing good dialogue comes down to making your character speak a thousand words with just a few; kinda like a verbal version of "show, don't tell"
and those words are like mirrors: they need to resonate with the character themselves and with their own thoughts, beliefs and ambitions in the moment

[thegreenreels]

Glad to find a filmmaker on Youtube with zero BS and actual good advice to give! The "Generic vs. Specific" is one that has guided me the most lately. I don't remember where I saw this, but an advice about screenwriting I read two years ago, and one that has stuck with me since, is to try your hardest to write realistic dialogue on your first draft, as in: with each new line, you should stop and think "What would a real person reply to this?". And then, on subsequent drafts, you go back and add quirks, flourishes and punchy lines to your characters.

The idea was that there is nothing that "sounds" like bad dialogue as dialogue that is unrealistic. And as much as I'm far away from an "experienced" filmmaker/writer, I've noticed this helped improve my writing the most.

Anywho, great video!

[Username-bh]

Scratching the names is a nice technique to check on your script! I usually set the characters styles first and what would be maybe their signature word or line or way of talking and just go! But checking on it afterwords is definitely a good tip! 🤔

[SamBenPro]

I like this channel, i like how you're getting to the point with example rewrites, make this "better dialogue" a series please, thank you for your work

[jonathonfrazier]

I actually love long winded dialogue. Big Tolkein and Lovecraft fan.

[FULLofJOHN]

Kent, you are quickly becoming my favorite filmmaking youtuber. I look forward to every video you produce.

[ChisumRDR]

i once was an intern for a commercial studio and the thing i never forgot was them saying "don't shoot what's unnecessary" and that stuck with me... it was honestly such good advice and whenever i write or do a shot i keep thinking what the story behind it is and if it is good for the story or just a filler! and these tips of yours are great! i'm gonna try the convo tip fr since im in my last year of my film major and gotta write a script for a short film so this is amazing.

[blaisetelfer]

A useful example of good dialog to study would be O Brother Where Art Thou. Each of the three main men: the quick-wit, the everyman and the simpleton, has their own way of speaking and forming sentences, and the audience can tell who is who just through dialog within the first five minutes.

[HikingWithCooper]

These tips are pure gold. I love that you did that scene 2 ways, really shines a light on the contrast.

[mav]

This is insanely high quality. I love the style of the video and how concise you give information, while also not making it sound like a boring lecture

[DhyanMadathil]

I'm genuinely unhappy that this channel doesn't get the attention it deserves. From everything I've seen here, these videos are pure gems for filmmaking and more importantly, first time filmmakers. Keep it up, Kent.

[saiganesh]

Record people's conversation and write it in a script format is the best advice in terms of dialogue writing ❤️❤️👍👍