{"id":1389,"date":"2023-05-24T20:48:41","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T20:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteryagency.com\/?p=1389"},"modified":"2023-05-24T20:51:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T20:51:43","slug":"group-creative-directors-michelle-fischer-and-mark-maziarz-on-writing-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteryagency.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/24\/group-creative-directors-michelle-fischer-and-mark-maziarz-on-writing-dialogue\/","title":{"rendered":"Group Creative Directors Michelle Fischer and Mark Maziarz on Writing Dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Mark Maziarz – GCD at Battery<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are a few things that I wished someone had told me 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

Proper names in 30 seconds: If you are writing dialogue where you\u2019re addressing another person, don\u2019t give that other person a name unless you absolutely need to. Dropping \u2018Carol\u2019 or \u2018Gary\u2019 in a line will cost you more than a second, all in. And you can totally make something funnier out of a second than that.<\/p>\n

When writing dialog for a known person, don\u2019t focus on their nuances. You\u2019ll use them wrong. Before I start, I\u2019ll find a scene of their dialogue I\u2019m into and I\u2019ll transcribe it. I\u2019ll look at the pattern and check out the dynamics. When do they take beats? Are their silences the interesting part? Was it only funny when it was performed? You\u2019ll want to over-write for them because you love them, want to impress them and make something worthy of them. But remember, when they finally do read your work, they\u2019ll already be reading it in their voice. So, I don\u2019t know, don\u2019t try too hard? Wow, this really devolved into a lesson in slacking!<\/p>\n

Tropes and old bits: What are you, an AI stand up? A boss once told me to avoid any of that \u2018he\u2019s standing right behind me, isn\u2019t he?\u2019 type dialogue. It\u2019s a good watch out. All those overused bits – ChatGPT can weave those little chestnuts in there for you if you want. But I say let\u2019s send ’em out into the fjord and give ’em all a proper hero’s burial, with the flaming arrow and whatnot. Although, a script with all of them could be funny\u2026 maybe\u2026 probably not.<\/p>\n

Consider the \u2018kiss ass\u2019. In real life, you talk differently depending on who it is. Same goes for your characters. Consider that when writing their dialogue. They don\u2019t have to be a one note – even in 15 seconds. Think about a kiss ass. A kiss ass only kisses ass to certain asses. What does the kiss ass talk like to everybody else?<\/p>\n

Lastly, overwrite for you. Give them the hits.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michelle Fischer – GCD at Battery<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Be wary of explaining too much or having too much exposition. There’s a lot visually that will fill in the blanks and people only need to understand the main message. Try a scene where the dialogue starts mid-conversation at a key moment like \u2018What’s that?\u2019, \u2019I’ll take it\u2019, or \u2019Doesn’t it bother you that\u2026\u2019.<\/p>\n

Oftentimes, writers take too much time to get to the reveal or punchline. After all, we’re competing with limited attention span and lack of interest. Try flipping the script and say what you need to say first (i.e. product benefit), so you have more time to play with the premise. A well known example is the Geico rhetorical questions work \u2013 \u2019Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on your car insurance? Is Too Tall Jones too tall?\u2019.<\/p>\n

– Courtesy of Little Black Book<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are a few things that I wished someone had told me 20 years ago. Proper names in 30 seconds: If you are writing dialogue where you\u2019re addressing another person, don\u2019t give that other person a name unless you absolutely need to. Dropping \u2018Carol\u2019 or \u2018Gary\u2019 in a line will cost you more than a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-people"],"yoast_head":"\nGroup Creative Directors Michelle Fischer and Mark Maziarz on Writing Dialogue - BATTERY<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryagency.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/24\/group-creative-directors-michelle-fischer-and-mark-maziarz-on-writing-dialogue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Group Creative Directors Michelle Fischer and Mark Maziarz on Writing Dialogue - BATTERY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are a few things that I wished someone had told me 20 years ago. 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