Dialogue Writing Exercise
Since I’m sick again, here’s a dialogue writing exercise. There are many exercises out there for writing dialogue, but this is my favorite, and also my benchmark for character writing as a whole.
Rules:
2 or more characters must be present in the scene
The conversation must flow naturally!!!
Dialogue must convey as much as possible about the scene and situation as the current conversation allows (which means minimal to no additional non-dialogue information and description)
The names of the main characters present must be stated at or towards the end of the scene (I don’t really have a specific line count for this, so let’s make it ~6 lines).
The overall goal is primarily to see how distinct the characters sound from one another throughout the conversation, though I also use this to gauge chemistry as well to help plan their roles within their story, among other things.
Without further ado, I present two new characters of mine! For a small private side project, of course. Enjoy the banter :)
“So tell me, how did you get into my house?”
“It was that mirror you sent me.”
“Hm, that shouldn’t have happened.”
“Oh. That… explains a lot.”
“Look, being a Mirror Master doesn’t mean I have control over every mirror in existence. The one I sent you I had to carefully tune beforehand.”
“And that one in your hands?”
“Think of it more as a magic conduit, like that wand of yours.”
“My… wand? Oh, my slingshot? It’s not a wand, it’s a weapon.”
“That’s almost like me stabbing my enemies with my Mirror and saying that it’s a wand.”
“That’s the worst analogy I’ve heard you say so far.”
“My point stands.”
“Heh, sure it does.”
“Well, since you’ve been here a while now, what do you think of the place?”
“It’s… not what I was expecting. Then again, I didn’t even know this part of the realm existed. But it’s too grey for my liking.”
“By that logic, I find your world beyond Fracture too colorful.”
“Well, you know what I mean…”
“I do. Being here again, looking at this place… I can’t help but compare. I wonder if it’s only so lively because there’s more to do, rather than it simply being a reflection of this place.”
“Nothing ever has an easy answer. Stop me if I get something incorrect, but it’s similar to the difference between an Imperfect Reflection and a True Reflection. The Imperfect can see their weaknesses and take the easiest solution to become those weaknesses instead, thinking it’ll fix them when it doesn’t, whereas the True use their weaknesses to build upon themselves to become stronger. Right?”
“That… is… very accurate. Impressive.”
“Did you just compliment me?”
“Well, you know, you make a good point-”
“Ah, you are complimenting me!”
“I- Uh- Mm-”
“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it.”
“Aaaaaarg! Stop making me feel… warm!”
“Come on. If you never expand upon yourself then you’ll never improve.”
“That sounds like something I’d tell you…”
“I think you need to forget about your job for a bit and try talking to people… normally.”
“There’s a fine line between ‘job’ and ‘purpose’. And everyone here is just waiting for their time to become a Mirror Master just like I used to be. What else is there to talk about?”
“I didn’t mean here. Beyond Fracture, my place.”
“Oh… I can’t.”
“But-”
“I was only there last time because I was given a mission. I already failed, which is enough shame for me to bear. There’s no need to compound my troubles.”
“What’s the worst that can happen? Banishment?”
“I saw what would happen to a Mirror Master without an air of shame to their name. And…”
“Well? What happened?”
“…I don’t want to even think about it. So, please, as much as I would like to explore… don’t ever suggest I do such a thing again.”
“Okay. I’m… I’m sorry.”
“…What about you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve learned much about me. And in the usual reflection effect, I don’t know much about you.”
“You know my personality.”
“Not the point. And also not a completely fair assessment.”
“Ahah, you’re right. I don’t really have much to say. I’m just an adventuring healer, that’s it.”
“I didn’t think healers would use slingshots.”
“You’d be surprised how often this thing has saved my life. For even the simplest of tools can make a foe mighty.”
“If you’ve kept it this long, no doubt it’s special.”
“What more do you want to hear?”
“Do you have a favorite story to tell?”
“Is that okay with you? I don’t want to feed any temptation-”
“Just go on.”
“Alright… Here’s a nice one. I ran into a family living in a small cottage along one of my quests. They were farmers and were growing just enough food for them to survive, but some of the crops they were planting kept going missing near harvest day. Apparently, it was because of this pretty little doe who ended up wandering a little too far from her home. The family actually ended up taking her in and even built her a place to sleep. And the mother made the best apple pie… I wonder how they’re doing?”
“Well, that certainly sounds… interesting.”
“Oh, stop fiddling with your Mirror. Were you even listening to me?”
“Something about a cottage and a doe, right?”
“Good to know you’ve not changed too much.”
“You said you didn’t want to feed temptation. Well, if you speak and I don’t listen then there’s no harm done.”
“But you asked.”
“I know I did.”
“You know, I think I know why you’re still called Pride. Even when faced with your own reflection, you’re content with staying just the way you are. It just so happens that ‘the way you are’ is a hypocritical egotist.”
“Well if that’s where you want to go, dear Wizard, your faith and empathetic nature still makes you blind to larger schemes in favor for making the people in your immediate vicinity happy for their short term future.”
“You know, I have other things to do today. I hope you can get another assignment soon.”
“Wait, Wizard.”
“What?”
“…Thank you. For keeping me company. I… appreciate it.”
“Of course. Now go try talking about things other than reflections.”
For a slight bit of context: I’m writing a story arc for a game that I play. You can call it fanfiction if you will, but I created a whole new setting and cast of characters for said arc semi-in line with the game’s lore. Pride is one of said characters, with the Wizard being the player. So I took this opportunity to try and flesh Pride out a bit more for my own writing.
With that aside though, how do you think I did? My writing quality usually takes a dip when I get sick, in particular I find that (good) dialogue is tricky to do when your head is terribly congested.
The Great War will resume next week!