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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35374
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35374
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

How do you write a conversation? You write the dialogue: what guy A said, what guy B said. Consider how they say it, how they talk at all: are they open with each other, or are there things they are not comfortable sharing? Is there a non-verbal communication between them, do they understand each other from a word and a gesture, or do they need to spell things out? Any misunderstanding? Any background that would be relevant?

Consider how they talk: what kind of language would they use? What's their age, social class, level of education? Are there any in-jokes they share?

How does each feel towards the other in general, and regarding the subject of the conversation in particular? How do they express those feelings?

When you've written the conversation, you go over it, see what works, what doesn't, and prod it into shape. Usually when I read a conversation and it doesn't work, it's for one (or more) of three reasons:

- It's about nothing. Smalltalk, treading water, not adding anything to the plot, the characters, or anything else really.
- There's no honest emotion. The conversation should be about something the characters care about, but it remains superficial and detached, like the author was afraid to fully engage in what the characters are experiencing.
- There is no logical chain in the conversation: people change their opinion without going through the process of realisation, or escalate too fast, without a visible cause.

You find those problems, you address them, rewrite until it works.

Original score: 4