Dialogue - Let there be speech!

On the previous page which showed you an example of a play, you were asked to take notes on how the overall play was set out. Now you need to put the notes you took about how the dialogue was set out into practice.

By now you should have a storyline, and an opening set description. The next thing you need is speech. Below is a video which outline the importanceof dialogue within a play and just how it can help your play when you write good dialogue.

You only need to watch up to 1:51, however if you wish to watch the whole clip feel free.

When writing a play you're going to want you characters to speak to each other. However, unlike a novel, a play isn't written using the words he said or she said. For example, instead of saying:

"Get ready for school" said mum.

    When writting a script we write it the character name at one side of the page in capitals with a colon next to it. You then leave a gap (approximately a tab key space in Microsoft word). You then write the dialogue for the character in full sentencce form. There is no need for quotation marks. After this you then leave a line space between characters talking. Any added descriptions on how to say the dialogue is put in brackets and italics at the begininning of the line of dialogue.

For example:

MUM:        Get ready for school.

AMY:        (yells) I'm coming!