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FSV1STORY – Storytelling TechniquesDialogue
The Scenario
-A middle-aged man returns home from work.
-He stopped for drinks with friends and forgot to tell his wife he would be late.
-Dinner is ruined.
The Exercise:
-Write the dialogue for this scene between the two characters.
Wife: Would it kill you to call?
Husband: Sorry, my phone battery went dead.
Wife: You should’ve borrowed a phone from one of your friends. I waited all night for you and I’m hungry! Telling me you’d be back this late is the least you can do, isn’t it?
Husband: You should’ve gone ahead without me. I’ll heat up the food. We’ll eat now, okay? Where are the kids? Have they eaten?
Wife: I can’t believe this. Don’t you remember what day is it?
Husband: What… day? It’s Monday, didn’t you read the calendar this morning?
Wife: Don’t you remember?!
Husband: Huh? Oh I bought the onions you wanted already. (smiles)
Wife: That’s it! You can have your dinner by yourself! I cannot believe you actually forgot today is our fifth wedding anniversary! I spent so much time preparing everything and sending the kids to their friend’s place so we could have a nice quiet dinner together and you say thank you by forgetting all about it! I’m going over to Terrie’s and you can jolly well go drinking with your friends the entire night!
There’s a natural momentum in the scene, and you keep it from becoming too over-the-top and ridiculous. The wife’s dialogue is too shallow though. She has no purpose to her complaining. She has no goal in this conflict (look back through conflict notes to remember the relationship between conflict and goal.)