Screenwriting Course
Lessons

This lesson looks into the elements that manifest character through how the characters express themselves via text and subtext, the combination of which invariably results in the telling of information or exposition. Writing dialogue well is the hardest thing to teach and the hardest thing to do well. Dialogue is informed by the definition and establishment of character. The character was created for your specific story and to serve a specific theme. Therefore, define your character in terms of the goal in your screenplay. This is the most important thing for you to know and for your audience to learn. Because the goal is the basis for conflict and that conflict is the basis for story, that goal is going to determine your character’s behavior.

Subtext is the meaning beneath the words. Subtext may be inferred through a character’s actions, even through silence, when no dialogue is stated. It is the meaning inferred by bearing witness to a situation or deducing the deeper meaning beyond the words expressly stated.

Exposition is the nuts-and-bolts type information that must be given in a scene to the audience for the plot to move forward, for characters’ motivations to be clear, and for relationships and backstory to be understandable. Define your character in terms of the goal. Exposition is the enemy of good writing and good drama, nevertheless it is necessary. It is not plot but it advances the plot. How to relate exposition without being obvious about it requires work. Avoid whenever possible having a character recap what the audience already knows but other characters still need to know.   Exposition trick: Introduce a character to ask the questions for the audience.

Truly listen to how people speak in real life. People talk across purposes, or elliptically, incomplete, use cliches. Read your dialogue aloud, and often. Do not be afraid of silence.