He Said, She Said - Writing Exercise

This is a writing exercise with the emphasis on dialogue.

The first part is to write a scene with two people who are happily in love. The scene should be short, no more than 250 words - about one page, double spaced. Most of it should be dialogue - keep the tags and narrative to a minimum.

Next, using the same basic characters, write a scene with the couple in the midst of a nasty break up.

Now try to do the characters as enemies.

Finally, take a look at your scenes and make a list of all the issues that were revealed - setting details character insights, and plot movement. If you cannot find one issue, then your dialogue needs some work.