ADDING TIME PRESSURE
Write a dialogue between two people. One is trying to tell the other something important while a third character (off screen maybe or outside) interrupts them up to four times with the sentence: Hurry up! We are going to be late!
DON’T MAKE A SOUND
The bad guy is trying to figure out if there are children hiding in the house. The owner of the house knows where they are and so does the reader but is trying to convince the bad guy that he knows nothing.
I’M NOT HERE
Three friends are in the room. Two of them are having a conversation about the third. The third person can hear them but does not take part in the conversation.
SAY IT WITHOUT SAYING IT
This exercise is a classic!
A woman just found out that her husband has been cheating. The husband comes home and they have a conversation. They don’t talk about the cheating. What could they be talking about?
SAVING A KITTEN
Two men hear the sound of a scared kitten coming from a pit.
EAVESDROP EXCURSION
We have been taught in school to write in proper grammatically correct sentences. When you start writing dialogue this is the first thing you must unlearn. If you listen carefully most people don’t speak in complete and perfect sentences.