Advanced Craft Series: Double Duty Dialogue

Charles Baxter wrote that the "best and most artful dialogue is marked by the inattentiveness of its characters.” Creating dialogue that delivers meaning in a scene is only half the battle; making that dialogue reflect the disconnections, inattentions, and conflicting agendas that are part of much human conversation is the other, even harder, half. In this advanced craft workshop, we’ll discuss five strategies to make dialogue more effective by making it do more work within the story. We’ll look at published examples, and practice techniques through in-class exercises. Bring a draft of one of your stories to work on.

Part of GrubStreet's Advanced Craft Series, led by Ron MacLean and dedicated to the exploration of advanced elements of craft in fiction. Classes include:

• Advanced Craft Series: Emotional Context
• Advanced Craft Series: Motion Beyond Plot
• Advanced Craft Series: Grounding
• Advanced Craft Series: Narrative Distance
• Advanced Craft Series: Double Duty Dialogue
• Advanced Craft Series: Raising the Stakes