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ljwritesThis is something I've wanted to try for a while. It's a dialogue exercise from the book Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, and it goes like this:
In the book Stein presented a couple of examples that he disqualified, one because the argument was not genuine (it was clearly just banter between lovers) and the other because the argument was so bitter that it was clear the participants despised each other. It's a fine line to tread.
So not only do I want to try this, I'd love to see what you come up with. If you want to participate--and don't be shy if we haven't talked regularly, this is open to everyone including perfect strangers--do this exercise either in a comment or by linking your entry in your comment. I'll give you feedback, and others might do the same.
Also, to minimize mutual influence don't read the other entries until you've done your own, assuming you're interested in participating. Spoiler-tag your own entry to facilitate the no-peeking rule, which for LJ is (lj-spoiler title="go away, peeping monkeys!")your text here(/lj-spoiler) with pointy brackets instead of round. On DW and other platforms do whatever is equivalent, such as a text cut.
Here's my entry:
"I can't relax when the house is like this. Have you even looked at the place all day?"
"So it's all my responsibility now? I work, I go to school, and I have to keep a perfect house?"
"Look, I'm not asking for you to do a Martha Stewart spread. But I do need you to make some minimal effort. Like doing the breakfast dishes by 9 in the evening."
"You think what I do is easy. It's no wonder you never do anything around the house all week."
"I want to help, believe me! What do you think I do all day, go to the gym?"
"Well you could use a visit every now and then. And what do you think I do all day, catch up on my soaps?"
"My love handles and I resent what you're implying there. Look babe, I know it's no picnic for you."
"Resent me? Talk about the hand that feeds--and packs the picnic lunches."
"It's just that I'm wrecked at the end of the day and all I want to do is collapse. Which is hard to do when there's no space on... well... anywhere."
"There. That should be enough space for your rolls to park for the night. Don't expect me to join you, I'll be snuggling with the breakfast dishes."
Write ten lines of dialogue which is an argument between two people. It must be a genuine argument, but it must also be clear that they are in love. No descriptions or direction, just dialogue.
In the book Stein presented a couple of examples that he disqualified, one because the argument was not genuine (it was clearly just banter between lovers) and the other because the argument was so bitter that it was clear the participants despised each other. It's a fine line to tread.
So not only do I want to try this, I'd love to see what you come up with. If you want to participate--and don't be shy if we haven't talked regularly, this is open to everyone including perfect strangers--do this exercise either in a comment or by linking your entry in your comment. I'll give you feedback, and others might do the same.
Also, to minimize mutual influence don't read the other entries until you've done your own, assuming you're interested in participating. Spoiler-tag your own entry to facilitate the no-peeking rule, which for LJ is (lj-spoiler title="go away, peeping monkeys!")your text here(/lj-spoiler) with pointy brackets instead of round. On DW and other platforms do whatever is equivalent, such as a text cut.
Here's my entry:
"I can't relax when the house is like this. Have you even looked at the place all day?"
"So it's all my responsibility now? I work, I go to school, and I have to keep a perfect house?"
"Look, I'm not asking for you to do a Martha Stewart spread. But I do need you to make some minimal effort. Like doing the breakfast dishes by 9 in the evening."
"You think what I do is easy. It's no wonder you never do anything around the house all week."
"I want to help, believe me! What do you think I do all day, go to the gym?"
"Well you could use a visit every now and then. And what do you think I do all day, catch up on my soaps?"
"My love handles and I resent what you're implying there. Look babe, I know it's no picnic for you."
"Resent me? Talk about the hand that feeds--and packs the picnic lunches."
"It's just that I'm wrecked at the end of the day and all I want to do is collapse. Which is hard to do when there's no space on... well... anywhere."
"There. That should be enough space for your rolls to park for the night. Don't expect me to join you, I'll be snuggling with the breakfast dishes."
