Writing Prompts #2

Don’t want to work on the manuscript? Don’t have a manuscript? Use these prompts to keep your writing skills sharp. Flesh out ideas and characters, try a new style, and just get that one idea that may never be a full manuscript down on paper.

Theme: Dialogue

Write a conversation between character A and character B. It starts out casually, but due to a misunderstanding, becomes an argument. For this conversation, you can only use she said/he said dialogue tags.

(A great way to learn to let the dialogue do the talking.)

Write a scene in which several characters develop a plan for a super-secret heist or jailbreak. Use only Indirect Dialogue (ID).

(A great way to condense scenes that are too big or end up as info-dumping. See my post on Styles of Dialogue in Fiction, which is the previous one.)

Write a conversation between character A and character B, they are trying to apologise to each other, but don’t want to say “I’m sorry.” Neither of them are willing to be forthwright and are trying to get the other to crack first.

(A great way to practice making sure your conversations feel real and not forced, and to ensure the things that are left unsaid, are still clear.)

Take an existing scene or short story of yours and remove all dialogue tags, and for 3rd person narratives: ‘he thought’/‘she wondered’ tags with italicised thoughts. Play around with Free Indirect Dialogue.

(A great way to step back from your scene and characters, to see things from a different angle or prespective, and to just try something new!)

Share your responses in the comments, or keep them for yourself! Happy writing!