There are thousands upon thousands of screenplays out there and yet only a small percentage of them actually turn into successful, or produced, films. Following this tutorial will get you on the right track to having your script fall into that small percentage.
Instructions
1. Write your treatment. Not one line of dialogue should be written until you know exactly what happens in every scene of your script. It is impossible to properly write what happens now if it is unknown what happens next.
2. Examine the scene at hand. Where does it take place? When? What do we already know about the character? What happens here to give us more information? Answering all of these questions will help.
3. Look at your character biography which I suggested in my tutorial on Character Development. The only way to properly write dialogue for a character is to know every little detail about that character.
4. Put yourself in the character's shoes. Knowing everything about the character, what would you say in that situation? If you truly know everything about the character, what he or she will say in certain situations will naturally come to you.
5. Do not be expository. Dialogue should never give away everything that the moment needs to give away. Films are able to purvey points through body language and facial expressions.
An example of expository dialogue in a scene where a man catches his wife cheating on him would be - "Oh my god! I can't believe you are cheating on me!"
The proper way to write that would be to write the line - "Oh my god!" and in your action descriptions, describe the look of horror on his face. It sounds more realistic.
6. Listen to people speak. The best dialogue is realistic dialogue and chances are your characters are based on real people.
