[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Is there a way to avoid writing on-the-nose dialogue?
Jen Grisanti, Speaker/Story/Career Consultant, Author: Yes, the best thing you can do with dialogue is recognize when you go out and you listen to conversation, people do not speak in complete sentences and you record or you think about how are people speaking in a way that feels authentic? Dialogue also reveals so much about things like character traits and flaws and life phases. You want to think about things like:
-Where is this character in their life?
-When I look at the life process, is my dialogue reflective of where this character is?
-Is my dialogue reflective of the want?
-Is my dialogue reflective of the conflict that the character might feel internally?
-Is the scene revealing character while advancing plot?
Film Courage: How do you write emotion without stating emotion?
Jen: Emotion all comes down to the setup of things like the dream, the biggest fear, the audience feeling the void. When you enter the story you want to think about the idea of what is making the character stuck (when we enter the story)? The feeling of what is making the character stuck? When we enter the story, it goes into the setup of the emotional arc so you’re not hitting it on the head what the emotion is, instead you’re giving us a sense through subtext of the void and then you’re escalating the emotional arc through understanding what is getting in the way with the void and how the pursuit can help the character process the past so that they can move toward the future goal.
Film Courage: I’m thinking too about want how do you how do you state want in dialogue like I’m thinking back to the to the White Lotus and the Jennifer Coolidge character has found this this young woman who will listen to her and be her sounding board but she’s also manipulating her and it’s revealed in these little tells about…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
International speaker Jen Grisanti is an acclaimed Story/Career Consultant at Jen Grisanti Inc., a 13-year Writing Instructor for Writers on the Verge at NBC, and a former 12-year studio executive, including VP of Current Programming at CBS/Paramount. Jen is the author of three books, Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story, TV Writing Tool Kit: How To Write a Script That Sells, Change Your Story, Change Your Life: A Path To Your Success.
Grisanti started her career in 1992 as an assistant to Aaron Spelling. He served as her mentor for 12 years. She quickly climbed the ranks and eventually ran Current Programs at Spelling Television Inc., covering all Spelling’s shows, including Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and Charmed. In 2004, Grisanti was promoted to Vice President of Current Programs at CBS/Paramount, where she covered numerous shows, including Medium, Numbers, NCIS, 4400, and Girlfriends.
In January 2008, Grisanti launched Jen Grisanti Inc., a highly successful consulting firm dedicated to helping talented writers break into the industry. Drawing on her experience as a studio executive, where she gave daily notes to executive producers/showrunners, Grisanti guides writers to shape their material, write from their emotional truth, hone their pitches, and focus their careers. Since launching the consulting firm, Grisanti has worked with over 1000 writers specializing in television and features. Due to her expertise and mentorship, one hundred and six pilots have sold, including ten that went to series, and one hundred fifty-two writers have staffed.
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