Do you struggle with writing dialogue for your story or script that feels realistic, compelling, nuanced, and adds to the story rather than bogging it down?

You are not alone, and here is a simple writing exercise that’s going to help you master the art of writing dialogue.

Start with two characters. Maybe they’re characters you’ve already created, or maybe they’re two completely new characters you invent for the sake of this exercise.

Now give them a topic of interest. Make it something that’s of vital importance to both of them: money, love, children, etc. Maybe they’re a couple and there has been an infidelity, or maybe they’re two friends who come from very different income backgrounds. You decide.

Now you’re going to set yourself a timer for 5 minutes, and write without stopping. You’re going to write a dialogue between your two characters where they are in a public setting, and they cannot talk about the thing that’s important to both of them. They can talk about anything else.

This exercise is useful because it reminds us that dialogue is not always about stating the necessary or obvious; very often, dialogue is about talking around things, and as a writer you need to develop this subtle skill.