Alex Broun

  • WHAT MAKES GOOD DIALOGUE?

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    Alex Broun, one of the world’s leading experts in 10-minute plays, gives his top 8 tips on how to write great dialogue. You can read Alex’s plays at his new website – alexbroun.online.

    1. TRUTH: Does your dialogue have that “air of authenticity”? Will the audience believe that your character really would speak like that or would say what they do in that situation? Does your character’s dialogue have the “ring of truth”?
    1. BOUNCEABILITY: Words that “bounce off the back” wall – remember you are writing words to be spoken by actors on stage, you are not writing words to be read. Words, phrases or sentences that look good on paper may not sound as good when spoken out loud.
    1. SPEAKABILITY: Is your dialogue easy for actors to speak? It is okay if it is not easy to speak (e.g Stoppard) but you need to be aware of that and realise that you are writing vocally tricky dialogue. There needs to be a reason and purpose for that – not just using big words for the sake of it.
    1. BREVITY: In theatre every word is absolutely crucial – if there are words which are superfluous and unnecessary they slow down the action of the scripty and they detract from the audience’s involvement. Sometimes the difference between a good and bad scene can be 30 unnecessary words.
    1. UN-SPOKEN WORDS: What characters think and what they say are often two extremely different things? Dialogue is not just thoughts put on paper. When you are writing a scene think about the difference between what your character says and what they’d like to say but for various reasons can’t. Often what your character chooses not to say or does not say can gives them the greatest “ring of truth.” Give the audience some credit – they know how your character feels and what they want to say but don’t. That puts them inside the skin of your character and makes them care for them even more.
    1. VOCABULARY: The way character’s live their lives (work, relationships, childhood) effect the way they speak. Does your characters vocabulary match their upbringing, occupation, lifestyle? If they don’t your “ring of truth” may be greatly affected.”
    1. RHYTHM: Does one line flow to the next? Are their repetitions of words or phrases? If there are be aware of them and why they are helpful to your dialogue/character/scene? Again repetition is fine but you need to be aware of why you are doing it? Does your dialogue overlap? Or is every speech separate? Is it fast or slow? REMEMBER – value every word, think about every word.
    1. PUNCTUATION: Sometimes the way people talk is all about punctuation. Does a sentence or phrase end with a full stop, a dash (interrupted), a dot dot dot (speaker doesn’t finish sentence). Is there a beat, pause, long pause, silence between dialogue or in the middle of speeches. Again the pauses can be more important than the spoken word. Look at how other writers use punctuation – consider why they use what they do and when.

    REMEMBER – DIALOGUE AND CHARACTER ARE ENTERTWINED. YOU CAN NOT HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER AND IN EXPLORING ONE YOU WILL DISCOVER THE OTHER

    (i.e. if you discover the way the character speaks you will discover more about who they are, if you know who a character is you will know how they speak.)

  • Top 12 Tips for writing a great 10-minute play

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    Alex Broun, one of the world’s leading experts in 10-minute plays, gives his top 12 tip s on what makes a great 10-minute play. You can read Alex’s plays at his new website – alexbroun.online.

    1. Dialogue and character are inextricably linked. If you know your characters you know how they speak. Good characters are the link to good dialogue, good dialogue is the link to good characters.
    2. There are no secrets – the secret to writing a good ten minute play is the same as writing a good play of any length. Strong characters, interesting story and good dialogue.
    3. You are writing for theatre, not film or TV – You need to ask yourself what makes your play theatrical. What makes it need to be performed on stage. Theatre is not just talking heads on stage. That is television. What makes the DOING interesting for the people WATCHING. Our whole challenge as a playwright is to make the DOING as interestring as possible for the people WATCHING.
    4. To write a good character you need two things – The character needs to WANT something AND the character needs to DO something to get what they want. Dramatic Tensionis caused by bringing characters into conflict. This happens when they both want opposing things.
    5. Why should I care ? – Ask yourself why the audience should CARE about your story, your characters and pay. What makes it special ? What makes it different ? What makes it stand out from the hundreds of plays, movies and TV shows the audience will see every year.
    6. Don’t submit your first draft – Like any good play, a ten minute play takes time to get right. Don’t think just cause it’s a ten minute play you can whip it up quickly and it will be perfect. Write a first draft – put it away for a week or two, get some feedback (from a number of sources), have a reading. Then write a second draft, then a third draft. Keep going until the play is as good as you can possibly make it – and every word is important – then you can submit it to Short+Sweet. Be flexible, listen to feedback. It might make your play better.
    7. Don’t give up – It’s very rare that you’ll write a play perfect the first time. An example of this is my play 10,000 cigarettes. Just because your first draft isn’t as good as you want it to be – the idea for the play may still be good. So keep working on the play. Don’t throw it away just because someone says – “I didn’t like it.” And remember – playwriting, like any skill, takes a while to develop – and the more you do it. The better you’ll get.
    8. You never know until you try – Many of us think of writing a play without ever picking up a pen to try. The first step to writing a good play is actually writing something.
    9. Remember : What is the story you are trying to tell – and just tell that story. It’s a ten-minute play. You don’t have time for anything that is unnecessary to the story you are telling.
    10. People like characters, story, dialogue – they are not interested in the message UNLESS you have all those three. If you want to write a thesis or dissertation then go and do that. Audiences don’t respond well to didactic theatre.
    11. Write what you want – don’t question yourself. If you have a play in your head just write it. If you love the story/situation – others might as well. Let your plays be your passion.
    12. The key to a really great ten minute play is a good middle – Once you have set up the situation and characters something needs to happen that does three things – takes the play in a different direction, raises the stakes and speeds up the tempo. It’s like the car has been crusing along a straight road at 60kmh then it suddenly speeds up to 100kmh and starts going around corners. Examples of this on alexbroun.online are Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore has a good middle, The First Fireworks doesn’t. Makes Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore a much better play.