WRITING A DIALOGUE (1)

Read the following dialogue :

“I want to see you Mr Chambers”, he announced breathlessly.

“Well?” he glared at him.
“I want to get four days’ vacation”.
“Why, you had a vacation just two weeks ago!” said Mr Chambers in surprise.
“That’s true,” admitted the young man, “but now I’ve got to have another”.
“I didn’t realize you were employed as a travelling salesman” said the manager in a dry voice.
“I’m not” cried George desperately, “but I’ve got to go.”

Sum up the situation. What does the first stage direction (didascalie) indicate about the character ?
Read the other stage directions and say what they show us about the characters’ feelings and relationships.

WRITING STAGE DIRECTIONS

A STAGE DIRECTION is a means (un moyen) to give information about the character’s way of speaking.

You can use for example different verbs :

To say (to someone)

To tell someone .

But also :

Acknowledge – add - admit – apologise – beg - complain – confess – cry – declare – deny – exclaim - groan – grumble inquire– mumble –
order - promise – protest - remark – scream - stammer – whisper – wonder – yell …

Most of the time the verbs in the stage directions are in the past since most stories are told in the past :

Exercise 1 : Fill in the blanks with one of the following verbs in the past :
Agree - shout – whisper – insist – stammer - beg – cry

a- “Oh, Billy” she ___________________,”what a terrible wound !”

b- “Get out” __________________Mrs Marley frantically “there’s the door, get out!”
c- “You’re a darling “ she _______________ to her son.
d- “Yes, you did” __________________ Simon.
e- “But I do want to go!” _______________John.
f- “Please don’t say anything” he ____________________ . “I’m so sorry”.
g- “Control m-myself!” She _________________” You’d better ask her to c-control herself!”

You can complete the stage directions with an adverb or an indication as to the tone of the voice :
Ex : “I guess you’re busy” she apologised quickly. “He hit me” he said in a weak voice.
Ex : “You’re a liar!” he said furiously . “I’m promoted” he exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone.

You can use adjectives ( low, weak, strong, angry, irritated, nervous, embarrassed …) or adverbs ( weakly, strongly, angrily,
nervously, enthusiastically …)…

Exercise 2 : Complete the stage directions giving information about the character’s way of speaking :

a-“There’s been some trouble” she announced …….

b- “Please, listen to me” the teacher ordered ……
c- “Please come with me!” Mary ….
d- “I shouldn’t have said that “ Gerald ...
e- “What could I do ?” he …

“she announced” et PAS “announced she *” ( attention à l’ordre des mots ).

WRITING A DIALOGUE ( 2 )

1- PERSONALITY : useful adjectives

Match the following adjectives with the definitions below :

Fussy – moody – cool-tempered – joyful – grumpy – bad-tempered – thoughtful – sulky

a- who changes moods :

b- who is very patient and level-headed :
c- who is always grumbling :
d- who is in a bad mood :
e- who is helpful and kind :
f- who is cheerful and lively :
g- who refuses to talk :
h- who is difficult to satisfy :

2- Writing stage directions with ADVERBS : -ly ( or “-ally” ) is used to build adverbs with adjectives .
In the following dialogue rephrase the underlined words in stage directions with the corresponding
adverb.
[You will first find the corresponding adjective then add –ally ( after “ic”) or –ly. ]
Ex : “It’s wonderful”, he said with sarcasm .
 adjective = sarcastic adverb = sarcastically he said sarcastically .

“It’s wonderful”, he said with sarcasm .

“Do you think so?” she replied with irony.
“Why, don’t you?” he retorted with wit.
“It depends,” she answered with humour.
“On what?” he insisted with mischief .
“On you,” she murmured with love .
“Why me?” he answered in surprise.
“Why not?” she smiled with mystery.
“A good question”, he laughed with amusement.
“Isn’t it?” she whispered with hope.
“You’re quite right,” he conceded without hesitation.
“I always am”, she added with pride.
WRITING A DIALOGUE- BODY LANGUAGE(3)

The following vocabulary may be useful when writing a dialogue. You can write stage directions in
which you will express the characters’ feelings thanks to « body language ».

Hearing : l'ouïe

to hear : entendre
to listen to ... : écouter
to be all ears : être tout ouïe
To overhear a conversation : surpendre une conversation
to prick up one's ear : tendre l'oreille

The sight : la vue

Of course you know:

to see : voir
to look at ... : regarder

but there are many others :

Look at the definitions of these words and match them with the pictures then translate them
into French:

DEFINITIONS PICTURES
 blink: shut and open the eyes quickly.
How long can you stare without blinking?

 wink: close one eye briefly, as a signal to somebody.

He winked at me to show that he was just joking.

 frown / scowl : look in a worried or angry way, moving 1- 2-

down the eyebrows together.
He read the telegram, frowning at its contents.

 stare: look at something for a long time with the eyes wide
open.
She was staring into space. 3- 4-
 glance: have a quick look at something.
She glanced at her watch

gaze: look at something or someone for a long time, in

surprise or admiration.
She gazed at him in disbelief when he told her the news.

gape: look at something with one's mouth open. 5- 6-

She gaped at him in surprise.

glare: stare angrily or fiercely.

She didn't answer, but just glared silently at me.

7- 8-

Touch : le toucher
to touch : toucher
to shake hands with: serrer la main de
to pat: tapoter
to pound: donner un grand coup
to squeeze: presser
to seize/ to grasp: saisir