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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27452
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27452
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Dialogue consists of two characters trying to get something from each other. Each has a desire that they want the other to fulfill. Each has some reluctance in fulfilling that desire, or else has difficulty figuring out what that desire is because the other is not, for one reason or another, stating it clearly. They may be ashamed of their desire, they may be afraid of rejection, they may be attempting to deceive. But they want something, and they are choosing their words, in a way that is consistent with their character, to try to get the other person to grant their desire.

The is true of both people in the conversation, so every passage of dialogue is like a game of chess: move and countermove, each person attempting to increase their chances of winning.

If you don't know what to have a character say next, it is because you have not thought through what they are trying to get from the other person, or what the other person is trying to get from them, and why they are reluctant to grant it. Figure those things out and the next line of dialogue will be obvious.

Original score: 2