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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  No conflict = bad dialogue?   Moderators: George Willson
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Martymcnugget1971
Posted: December 20th, 2023, 6:19pm Report to Moderator
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I seem to have this mindset that if dialogue doesn’t have conflict or every scene doesn’t have conflict then the script is bad.  

If 2 characters are setting in a restaurant just causally talking and they aren’t arguing or disagreeing I think it’s bad.  

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LC
Posted: December 20th, 2023, 8:18pm Report to Moderator
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Yes, you need conflict. However, characters don't have to be arguing as such to create conflict.

It could be that what they are saying is the complete opposite to what they're doing, example: perhaps a character beckons the waiter over and says their food was absolutely terrible - but their plate is all but licked clean, perhaps one character is on their cell phone the whole time, or a character is flirting with someone at another table.

Conflict can take a lot of different forms other than outright arguing.
Hitchcock's bomb under the table analogy comes to mind - characters oblivious,  Dramatic irony.



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ChrisBodily
Posted: December 21st, 2023, 12:44am Report to Moderator
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Conflict could also be:

Character 1 looks like a mess/depressed and Character 2 comments on it.

Character 1 gets a makeover, but lacks the confidence and needs reassurance.

A bride or groom night have seconds thought about their wedding... while they're at the altar.

Not every conflict needs to be a Jerry Springer episode.


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Matthew Taylor
Posted: December 21st, 2023, 6:40am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Martymcnugget1971
I seem to have this mindset that if dialogue doesn�t have conflict or every scene doesn�t have conflict then the script is bad.  

If 2 characters are setting in a restaurant just causally talking and they aren�t arguing or disagreeing I think it�s bad.  



You have an obsession with dialogue lol

But yes, conflict does not always = arguing/disagreeing. In can be a lot more subtle than that.


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Two steps to writing a good screenplay:
1) Write a bad one
2) Fix it
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