Dialogue Dynamics Course!

Welcome from Alicia!

Hi! If you’re here on this page, you have enrolled in Alicia’s Dialogue Dynamics Course. We’ll have fun!

What happens next? Well:

It's all done in email, so all you have to do is:

  • sign up and pay (you’ve probably already done that if you’ve been to Paypal)

  • (I'll enroll you in the email group),

  • click the "join" link when you get the invite email,

  • then read the lessons and reply to whichever lessons you find intriguing.

  • (No grades, but plenty of personal positive feedback from me.)

    Groups.io is the group-provider, and they provide an invite system, where I submit the email addresses of new members. Then they will send an email invitation to each user. To join the group, each member simply has to click on the link within the invitation, or reply to the invitation.

If you have any trouble signing up, email me at plotblueprint@gmail.com.
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FEBRUARY THE FIRST!

So February 1, you’ll get an email from the course. The return address will be:
dialogue@groups.io

I’ll put “Welcome to Alicia’s Dialogue Dynamics Course” in the subject header so you’ll know it’s from me.

Now this class is done in email, with the lessons and assignments sent to your email. When you hit “Reply,” your post goes to the group list and to me the instructor. It’s all pretty easy! I’ll also park the lesson posts in the Files section of the Dialogue Dynamics course list page, and from there you can download it if you want a copy in .doc format.

If you’ve never taken a course with me, let me warn you. Oh, I mean let me TELL you! It’s not really scary, but the course has a lot of intensive material, as you can tell from the curriculum below.

There are also several assignments/exercises. Now you do NOT have to do any or all of the exercises! They are for your benefit if you want to try them out. They will be geared to your own story— that is, I’ll refer to “your character” and “your story” so that you won’t be wasting time with generic examples.

If you do post an exercise response, I’ll read it and give whatever helpful feedback I have. You’re also welcome to ask questions, especially ones the rest of the class might want to ask also!

So there’s a lot of material, but that’s because I’m so fascinated with the topic of story dialogue that I’ve analyzed it in depth. You can learn a lot about active and interactive dialogue, and apply it directly and immediately to your own story conversations.

Okay! The schedule of class lessons is below. I know it’s a lot, and there will be a lesson just about every day. But it will all be over in two weeks, and you’ll then be able to punch up and revise your story’s dialogue passages!

We’ll have fun! I love to hear about other writers’ stories and characters. Talk to you February 1!

Alicia


DYNAMIC DIALOGUE: CLASS LESSONS
         TWO WEEKS TO DAZZLING DIALOGUE

DIALOGUE AS CHARACTERIZATION

  • HE SAYS/SHE SAYS: GENDER IN DIALOGUE

  • CLASS TELLS

  • WORD CHOICE- SENTENCE LENGTH

  • CONVENTIONS AND CHANGE

  • EXTERNAL TO INTERNAL FACTORS

  • CHARACTER IN PLOT

  • SUMMING UP DIALOGUE AS CHARACTERIZATION

  • ASSIGNMENT: “CHARACTER SPEAK”


DIALOGUE AS PLOT ACTION-INTERACTION

  • ACTIVATING DIALOGUE

  • FROM SPEECH TO DIALOGUE: ACTION TO INTERACTION

  • TYPES OF DIALOGUE ACTION AND INTERACTION

  • DISCOVERY

  • COMBAT

  • THE TRUTH

  • RELATIONSHIPS IN PROCESS


COMMON DIALOGUE ISSUES

  • EXPOSING EXPOSITION

  • OPENING WITH INTENT

  • ASSIGNMENT: “PLOT ACTION” 

  • LISTEN UP NOW (The Sound of Your Dialogue)

  • AVOIDING THE WOODEN: INTERLOCKING AND ECHOING

  • INTERLOCKING DIALOGUE WITH ACTION

  • THE ECHO EFFECT IN DIALOGUE

  • SUBTEXT IN DIALOGUE INTERACTION


DIALOGUE MECHANICS

  • Adverbs

  • Formatting and Paragraphing the Speech

  • Quote Tags

  • DIALOGUE ACTIONS

  • Props

  • ASSIGNMENT: “CHARACTER DIALOGUE: EDITING FOR SOUND EFFECTS” 


FINAL DIALOGUE TIPS

  • MAKE IT MOVE

  • SET IT UP

  • MAKE IT MATTER

  • FINAL ASSIGNMENT AND QUESTIONS

Your new plot awaits.