Living Dialog

LIVING DIALOG Week earlier than final, in my persevering with training class Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction, I confirmed the category this quote from the film O Brother Where Art Thou?: “The preacher stated all my sins is washed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.” This was meant for example of a brilliantly vivid, perfectly-crafted line of dialog. If you haven’t seen the film, shame on you, however right here’s the clip: Here’s why I think that is an instance of a brilliantly vivid, perfectly-crafted line of dialog . . . Try that very same line, stripped of character, with simply the essential details: “All of my sins have been forgiven, including the crime I dedicated that received me thrown in jail.” We know from the very first shot of the movie that this character, Delmar, has escaped from a prison work farm with his two compatriots. It’s not until this scene, later in the movie, that we be taught why, precisely, he was in prison within the first pl ace. He robbed a grocery retailer. Ultimately, this is the purpose of this line of dialogâ€"and yes, each line of dialog in your writing, be it a novel, a short story, or, like this example, a screenplay, has to have a function. Everything your characters do or say has to be there to assist transfer your story ahead, to reveal extra about your characters, their state of affairs and circumstances, and the world by which they stay. So now we know that Delmar robbed a grocery store, and that he believes he’s been forgiven. Ah, wait . . . this line of dialog really has two reasons for being there. It tells us not solely why Delmar was in jail, it speaks to his want for redemption, for forgiveness. So that’s why this line is in the movie, which is good. But what makes this one of my all time favourite strains of dialog in any media, and why I brought it up for example is how that info is conveyed, and what more that tells us about Delmar, his circumstances, and the world and time he inhabits. By this level within the film we all know that Delmar is a southerner, and doesn’t look like notably properly educated, but he’s a candy, charming man. He says, “The preacher said all my sins is washed away . . .” This is how an uneducated southerner within the Thirties may kind a sentence. It’s not grammatically appropriate, but very, very, very few of us converse in grammatically appropriate English. I know I don’t. That word alternative, “all my sins is washed away,” sounds extra authentic than, “all of my sins have been forgiven.” The fact that he was just baptized in a river accounts for the precise use of “washed away.” This line of dialog shares the area that character inhabits. But O Brother Where Art Thou? is also a comedy, and that, no less than partly, drives the remainder of the line of dialog. Delmar doesn’t simply tell us he robbed a grocery store, but states clearly the particular grocery retailer, chosen due to its notably funny na me, Piggly Wiggly, which can also be an actual chain of shops. The line wouldn't be as funny if he knocked over an A&P. The line continues to be authentically colloquial. Delmar didn’t “rob” the store, he knocked it over. That word alternative tells us much more about Delmar. He is aware of his two associates, fellow prison inmates, will know what he means by “knocked over.” And though Delmar is a sweet man, he’s additionally inhabited the house occupied by hardened criminals, and picked up their lingo within the course of. We don’t essentially need to know the city during which the Piggly Wiggly was situated, particularly since Delmar’s in jail in Mississippi, so it must have been someplace in that state, however adding that last bit of aptitude to the top actually caps it off. It just so happens that specific Piggly Wiggly was situated within the funniest-sounding name for an actual town in Mississippi the Cohen Brothers figured we'd have heard of, Yazoo. Often, hu mor comes out of unexpected specificity, and this is a great example of that. That seemed like a pretty simple little throw-away gag line, at first, didn’t it: “The preacher said all my sins is washed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.” But after we break it down it reveals all those layers of thought and care which might be the mark of an impressive writer. I realize it sounds like a tall order to take a look at each line of dialog in your writing with this same eye, and generally it truly is healthier to just let a character converse merely, get a clear point across, and transfer on, however placing this type of thought and layering into your dialog is worth the considerable extra effort. And I never advised you this whole writing thing was going to be easy. â€"Philip Athans About Philip Athans