Having a chat - Planning good dialogue

If there is one thing about your comic you will want to nail it is the manner in which the character’s speak to one another. When it comes to creating good and effective conversation you have to keep in mind two things.

1) Does the dialogue progress the story?
The purpose here is to provide information or raise a conflict that moves the story forward. At every juncture, the characters need to be progressing to the climax of the story with enough knowledge and/or tools to then wrap it up.

Take a conversation about the weather. Below is an example of dialogue that does offer any movement throughout the story.

Character A: “It’s cold today,”

Character B: “Yep. It’s been cold all week.”

Character A: “I hope it gets warmer,”

Character B: “Yeah, warm weather is nice,”

In this example nothing was gained by having this conversation. Even as small talk it is awkward and gives the impression neither character cares to be there. So let’s try and tweak it so that it moves events forward.

Character A: “There’s ice in my bones. We should find some cover soon,”

Character B: “I never thought I would miss the warmer weather. It would be nice that’s for sure. If only so we don’t have to stay indoors for months,”

Character A: “Come. We dare not linger much longer lest we freeze,”

In three lines not only have the characters begun moving for shelter based on their conversation, but they’ve begun to show who they are to each other. Character A’s use of language gives the indication that they are much older. They take note of the how the weather affects them by saying it “There’s ice in my bones,” rather than just stating outright that it’s cold. It also reveals the level to which it is cold. You feel the wind cutting through your layers and your bones aching from that one line alone.

Our second example highlights the next important aspect to consider:

2) Does it reveal something about the characters and how they feel about the situation?

Using our basic dialogue again:
Character A: “It’s cold today,”

Character B: “Yep. It’s been cold all week.”

Character A: “I hope it gets warmer,”

Character B: “Yeah, warm weather is nice,”

Let’s see how it fairs with another round of tweaking, this time focusing on revealing something about the characters and their relationship to each other.

Character A: “If the cold keeps up like this, we’ll have to scramble over the survivalists for the last can of beans,”

Character B: “Have to? What do you think I’ve been doing all week?”

Character A: “When you smile at me like that it’s hard for me to tell if you’re telling me straight or spinning a yarn,”

Character B: “A yarn will keep you warm at least!,”

Already you feel the underlying playfulness and sexual tension between the two characters. They’re joking around, using word play; they’re comfortable with each other, enough so as to poke fun at each other. The weather here is used to show what the characters think of one another and, thus, provide insight into who they are as people.

These two questions set you up straight away as it reduces the likelihood of dialogue that serves little to no purpose as well as providing further depth to your characters. When combined in conjunction with the inks, colour and lettering, good dialogue really pops on the page as, keep in mind, it is the first thing people see.

Next week I’ll go through going from a script to pacing it over thumbnails ready for production. In the meantime, what makes dialogue good to you? Is it something you struggle with? Let us know in the comments below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST) where we’ll be talking about this topic!

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