Conversation Station

Dialogue is a very important tool for writers, because it's what we use to allow our characters to speak. When used effectively, dialogue can reveal things about a character's personality more so than an actual description can. This is called indirect characterization, and we've talked about this before. For this post, I want you to find what you think is an example of good dialogue, dialogue that shows you something about a character. Some of the best written dialogue around can be found in movies and on television, because screenwriters have to tell their story almost entirely through character dialogue.

For example, on Sunday night's episode of Desperate Housewives, Bree, an infamously uptight housewife who has recently lost her husband, had this conversation with her therapist after agreeing to marry another man:

Therapist: So, you agreed to marry him to be polite?
Bree: Well, obviously, there's a downside to having good manners.

This short exchange really taps into the core of Bree's character. She's a woman who is concerned with appearances to the point that she'd answer "yes" to a marriage proposal just for the sake of not being viewed as mean, or cold.

You can find your example in a book, in a movie, on television, or maybe even from an interesting conversation that you've had with someone.