Sanderson 2016.11 - Dialogue & Agents

[@billyalarie929]

discussion on agents starts at 26:10

[@LiFancier]

7:55 To "dissemble" means to prevaricate -- not whatever he thinks it means here.

[@loriki8766]

This lecture is also on other channels. Here's some notes: Dialog & Agents ( 318R - #11 / 2016.11 ) DIALOG - MICRO Motivation • #1 cause of stilted dialog is writer threw character motive out the window & letting plot necessity drive the story instead. Exposition through dialog. • Good dialog is when writer understands what each character brings to dialog Individuality • Good dialog is when you can tell who is speaking even without dialog tags • Dialects that are too thick or pronounced are too much. Dialect should be sprinkled in. Less is more. o The character needs to be understood. o Can get around it by having another character repeat or answer - like Chewbacca • Smart people do not use tons of super long words. • No contractions make characters feel more alien but has become cliché. • Analytical people tend to talk in a more passive voice. • Highly intelligent people tend to skip ahead, sense of humor. • terse vs verbose • Passive vs aggressive • How excited character tends to be • Rhythm and patterns of speech • Linguistic tells / things they say a lot Conflict • Good dialog has innate conflict or tension. • Characters go into conversations wanting something. Use that to build tension. • Motives for conversion makes for good dialog. o One person is busy o Don’t trust each other & trying to find out something o One character can’t keep up with other o Sherlock needs Watson’s humanity; Watson needs Sherlocks genius. Both need something. • One character doesn’t pick up on social queues. Realism • Characters become caricatures, ie Terry Pratchett. It works. • Totally realistic dialog is boring & annoying & choppy, etc • Removing uh, ums, improves dialog • Decide your level of realism and go for it • If dialog is stilted, make it a slightly more or less real can help. Objective • What does this scene achieve? • Does this dialog need to explain something? Notes Dialog makes or breaks a scene. Writing characters vastly different from you: read what they write, have them read what you wrote, consult someone like who you want to write about.

[@xablep8849]

30:00

[@rudyandrzej904]

when upload notes ?

[@chasemorello60]

🤵‍♂

[@mendybaron1093]

lolololol. you hear the camera panda song the right before the video starts.. :):):)

[@Mankindatwar]

This guy really knows what hes talking about.