How to Finish Dialogue for Plays

Dialogue is the verbal communication between characters in a play. Writing effective dialogue is a skill every playwright must learn. Once a writer has completed the first draft of a play, he needs to go through the play and put finishing touches on all the dialogue.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Read the play out loud. Make notes of lines that are choppy or don't flow well with the scene. Rewrite these lines to fit better within the play. Read the dialogue to others and ask them if it fits the character and tone of the scene.

2. Mark pauses, actions and offstage lines in parenthesis. This helps the actors and directors interpret the dialogue in the way the writer intends.

3. Notate certain lines that need to be said with a specific tone, emotion or volume. For example, mark a line if it needs to be said in anger or a whisper.

4. Type up the next draft in the correct format. Center-align the speaking or moving character's names. Right-align the dialogue and space after each character finishes a line. Type all directions center-aligned in parentheses. Use abbreviations when possible, such as "o.s." For off stage.

5. Read over the play again. Make notes if necessary. Pay close attention to the problem areas you found in previous drafts and make sure they read smoothly.

6. Repeat any of the above step until your play sounds exactly the way you want it. Do not rush writing the dialogue.