Robert McKee: 10 Problems To Avoid With Dialogue In Screenplays

Robert McKee's Storylogue: Lesson Promo. Robert McKee discusses 10 problems screenwriters should try to avoid when writing.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• robert mckee
• story
• adaptation
• screenplays
• scripts
• dialogue
• screenwriting

[ttbotko15]

He's smart and I learn a lot from him, but he looks at me like he wants to stab me :0

[pissedllama]

He's a lot nicer than he is in Adaptation.

[elitestar]

@itzaramaja Yes it's fine to use beautiful dialogue as long as it has a place and necessary purpose within the script.

[myview017]

@metyuewb: Kudos to you Man. I couldn't have said it better myself. If you don't have the cojones to bring something original to the table, something that is going to bend and flout the rules, stay out of the arena.

[souldude81]

@ttbotko15 It's not you, it's the camera man. 

[slimjimpui]

@WolfosDotOrg Yeah, I agree. One of the worst culprits of this is Chris Nolan, though few people seem to pick up on that

[Spaztique]

@flemishguy Actually, subtext allows you to rewrite any line of dialogue in any number of ways and keep its original meaning. That way, you can tinker with making dialogue pleasing to the ear without worrying whether or not it will destroy the scene. (But if you're going with the McKee approach, it's better to just write the scene first before adding dialogue, as strange as this may sound to some of you.)

[itzaramaja]

A screenplay is not real life, even the most realistic stories, it's a representation which requires the creation of esthetic symbols, and just as the oral stories of ancient times, dialogs are not only supposed to be useful, but at specific points they must "sound" beautiful to seduce the audience. Words have a lot of power, storytellers of old knew that, Shakespeare knew that. I am aware Hollywood is business, but if writers don't fight for beauty, certainly the producers won't do it.

[itzaramaja]

I disagree when he says it's a mistake to use literary, beautiful words, "pretending" you are an artist. It's not a "pretension". Maybe he's just a businessman selling screenplays instead of oil or hot-dogs, but for me, depending on the genre and the character speaking, it's nice and necessary to use adornments and literary expressions many times. After all, screenplay writing is an art in my opinion.

[flemishguy]

He's an idiot. I hate all this talk about subtext, usually subtext based dialogue means BORING dialogue. Good dialogue is about sounding pleasing to the ear, funny and interesting. the most important thing for me with is dialogue is i'm entertained and interested when i hear it.

[dogmatic1954]

@bobbygnosis THE ROOM!!!!

YOUR TEARING ME APART LISA!!!