@mytechtoday/augment-extensions 0.7.0 → 1.2.1

package/augment-extensions/writing-standards/screenplay/rules/dialogue-writing.md

@@ -1,263 +1,263 @@
-# Dialogue Writing
-
-## Overview
-
-Great dialogue serves multiple purposes: reveals character, advances plot, creates conflict, provides information, and establishes tone. It should sound natural while being more focused and purposeful than real speech.
-
-## Core Principles
-
-### Natural Speech Patterns
-**Characteristics of Natural Dialogue**:
-- Contractions and informal language
-- Incomplete sentences and interruptions
-- Pauses and hesitations
-- Regional/cultural speech patterns
-- Age-appropriate vocabulary
-
-**Avoid**:
-- Overly formal or literary language (unless character-specific)
-- Perfect grammar in casual conversation
-- Speeches or monologues (unless justified)
-- Characters speaking in paragraphs
-
-### Subtext
-**Definition**: What's meant vs. what's said
-
-**Techniques**:
-- Indirect responses to questions
-- Changing the subject
-- Saying opposite of what's felt
-- Avoiding the real issue
-- Using metaphor or analogy
-
-**Example**:
-```
-SARAH
-How was your day?
-
-JOHN
-Fine.
-(beat)
-Yours?
-
-SARAH
-Great. Just great.
-```
-*Subtext: Both had terrible days but won't admit it*
-
-### Character Voice
-Each character should have distinctive speech patterns:
-
-**Vocabulary**:
-- Education level
-- Profession/expertise
-- Cultural background
-- Generation
-
-**Syntax**:
-- Sentence length and complexity
-- Formal vs. casual structure
-- Use of slang or jargon
-
-**Rhythm**:
-- Fast-talking vs. deliberate
-- Verbose vs. terse
-- Poetic vs. blunt
-
-## Dialogue Functions
-
-### Reveal Character
-- Personality traits
-- Emotional state
-- Background and history
-- Relationships with others
-- Internal conflicts
-
-### Advance Plot
-- Provide necessary information
-- Create or resolve conflict
-- Make decisions
-- Reveal secrets
-- Establish stakes
-
-### Create Conflict
-- Disagreements and arguments
-- Hidden agendas
-- Misunderstandings
-- Power struggles
-- Competing goals
-
-### Establish Tone
-- Comedy through wit and timing
-- Drama through intensity
-- Tension through what's unsaid
-- Romance through intimacy
-
-## Dialogue Techniques
-
-### Show, Don't Tell
-**Bad** (On-the-nose):
-```
-MARY
-I'm so angry at you for lying to me!
-```
-
-**Good** (Subtext):
-```
-MARY
-(cold)
-I'm sure you had your reasons.
-```
-
-### Conflict and Tension
-**Techniques**:
-- Characters want different things
-- Interruptions and talking over each other
-- Avoiding direct answers
-- Escalating stakes
-- Time pressure
-
-### Exposition
-**Best Practices**:
-- Disguise information in conflict
-- Reveal through character's need to know
-- Use dramatic irony (audience knows more than character)
-- Spread information across multiple scenes
-- Make exposition emotional, not just factual
-
-**Bad Exposition**:
-```
-DETECTIVE
-As you know, the victim was found at 3 AM
-in the warehouse on Fifth Street with a
-gunshot wound to the chest.
-```
-
-**Good Exposition**:
-```
-DETECTIVE
-Fifth Street warehouse. 3 AM.
-
-PARTNER
-Same MO as the Johnson case?
-
-DETECTIVE
-(nods grimly)
-Same gun. Same message.
-```
-
-### Rhythm and Pacing
-**Fast Pace**:
-- Short sentences
-- Quick exchanges
-- Interruptions
-- Overlapping dialogue
-
-**Slow Pace**:
-- Longer speeches
-- Pauses and silences
-- Measured responses
-- Descriptive language
-
-### Silence and Pauses
-**Uses**:
-- Build tension
-- Show emotional weight
-- Allow reaction
-- Create awkwardness
-- Emphasize what follows
-
-**Notation**:
-- `(beat)` - brief pause
-- `(long pause)` - extended silence
-- `(silence)` - significant quiet moment
-
-## Dialect and Accent
-
-### Guidelines
-**DO**:
-- Suggest dialect through word choice and rhythm
-- Use occasional distinctive phrases
-- Maintain readability
-- Research authentic speech patterns
-
-**DON'T**:
-- Write phonetic spellings extensively
-- Use stereotypical or offensive patterns
-- Make dialogue hard to read
-- Overdo regional markers
-
-**Example**:
-```
-GOOD:
-BOBBY
-Y'all want some sweet tea?
-
-BAD:
-BOBBY
-Y'awl wawnt sum sweet tay?
-```
-
-## Common Dialogue Mistakes
-
-### On-the-Nose Dialogue
-Characters saying exactly what they feel/think without subtext.
-
-### Exposition Dumps
-Long speeches that exist only to inform audience.
-
-### All Characters Sound the Same
-Lack of distinctive voice for each character.
-
-### Unnecessary Dialogue
-Greetings, small talk, or information already shown visually.
-
-### Overwriting
-Too many words when fewer would be more powerful.
-
-### Unnatural Formality
-Characters speaking like they're reading from a book.
-
-## Best Practices
-
-### DO
-✅ Read dialogue aloud to test naturalness
-✅ Use contractions in casual speech
-✅ Let characters interrupt and overlap
-✅ Include subtext and hidden meanings
-✅ Give each character distinctive voice
-✅ Cut unnecessary words
-✅ Use silence strategically
-✅ Make every line serve multiple purposes
-
-### DON'T
-❌ Have characters explain things they both know
-❌ Use dialogue for stage directions
-❌ Write speeches when conversation works better
-❌ Forget that people lie and hide feelings
-❌ Make every character eloquent
-❌ Include real-life filler ("um," "uh") excessively
-❌ Use dialogue to describe what we can see
-
-## Category-Specific Considerations
-
-### Film
-- Economy of words
-- Visual storytelling reduces dialogue need
-- Subtext over exposition
-
-### Television
-- Character voice consistency across episodes
-- Catchphrases and recurring patterns
-- Balance between episodic and serialized dialogue
-
-### Web Content
-- Punchy, quotable lines
-- Faster pace
-- Modern vernacular
-
-### Commercials
-- Every word counts
-- Clear call-to-action
-- Memorable phrases
-
+# Dialogue Writing
+
+## Overview
+
+Great dialogue serves multiple purposes: reveals character, advances plot, creates conflict, provides information, and establishes tone. It should sound natural while being more focused and purposeful than real speech.
+
+## Core Principles
+
+### Natural Speech Patterns
+**Characteristics of Natural Dialogue**:
+- Contractions and informal language
+- Incomplete sentences and interruptions
+- Pauses and hesitations
+- Regional/cultural speech patterns
+- Age-appropriate vocabulary
+
+**Avoid**:
+- Overly formal or literary language (unless character-specific)
+- Perfect grammar in casual conversation
+- Speeches or monologues (unless justified)
+- Characters speaking in paragraphs
+
+### Subtext
+**Definition**: What's meant vs. what's said
+
+**Techniques**:
+- Indirect responses to questions
+- Changing the subject
+- Saying opposite of what's felt
+- Avoiding the real issue
+- Using metaphor or analogy
+
+**Example**:
+```
+SARAH
+How was your day?
+
+JOHN
+Fine.
+(beat)
+Yours?
+
+SARAH
+Great. Just great.
+```
+*Subtext: Both had terrible days but won't admit it*
+
+### Character Voice
+Each character should have distinctive speech patterns:
+
+**Vocabulary**:
+- Education level
+- Profession/expertise
+- Cultural background
+- Generation
+
+**Syntax**:
+- Sentence length and complexity
+- Formal vs. casual structure
+- Use of slang or jargon
+
+**Rhythm**:
+- Fast-talking vs. deliberate
+- Verbose vs. terse
+- Poetic vs. blunt
+
+## Dialogue Functions
+
+### Reveal Character
+- Personality traits
+- Emotional state
+- Background and history
+- Relationships with others
+- Internal conflicts
+
+### Advance Plot
+- Provide necessary information
+- Create or resolve conflict
+- Make decisions
+- Reveal secrets
+- Establish stakes
+
+### Create Conflict
+- Disagreements and arguments
+- Hidden agendas
+- Misunderstandings
+- Power struggles
+- Competing goals
+
+### Establish Tone
+- Comedy through wit and timing
+- Drama through intensity
+- Tension through what's unsaid
+- Romance through intimacy
+
+## Dialogue Techniques
+
+### Show, Don't Tell
+**Bad** (On-the-nose):
+```
+MARY
+I'm so angry at you for lying to me!
+```
+
+**Good** (Subtext):
+```
+MARY
+(cold)
+I'm sure you had your reasons.
+```
+
+### Conflict and Tension
+**Techniques**:
+- Characters want different things
+- Interruptions and talking over each other
+- Avoiding direct answers
+- Escalating stakes
+- Time pressure
+
+### Exposition
+**Best Practices**:
+- Disguise information in conflict
+- Reveal through character's need to know
+- Use dramatic irony (audience knows more than character)
+- Spread information across multiple scenes
+- Make exposition emotional, not just factual
+
+**Bad Exposition**:
+```
+DETECTIVE
+As you know, the victim was found at 3 AM
+in the warehouse on Fifth Street with a
+gunshot wound to the chest.
+```
+
+**Good Exposition**:
+```
+DETECTIVE
+Fifth Street warehouse. 3 AM.
+
+PARTNER
+Same MO as the Johnson case?
+
+DETECTIVE
+(nods grimly)
+Same gun. Same message.
+```
+
+### Rhythm and Pacing
+**Fast Pace**:
+- Short sentences
+- Quick exchanges
+- Interruptions
+- Overlapping dialogue
+
+**Slow Pace**:
+- Longer speeches
+- Pauses and silences
+- Measured responses
+- Descriptive language
+
+### Silence and Pauses
+**Uses**:
+- Build tension
+- Show emotional weight
+- Allow reaction
+- Create awkwardness
+- Emphasize what follows
+
+**Notation**:
+- `(beat)` - brief pause
+- `(long pause)` - extended silence
+- `(silence)` - significant quiet moment
+
+## Dialect and Accent
+
+### Guidelines
+**DO**:
+- Suggest dialect through word choice and rhythm
+- Use occasional distinctive phrases
+- Maintain readability
+- Research authentic speech patterns
+
+**DON'T**:
+- Write phonetic spellings extensively
+- Use stereotypical or offensive patterns
+- Make dialogue hard to read
+- Overdo regional markers
+
+**Example**:
+```
+GOOD:
+BOBBY
+Y'all want some sweet tea?
+
+BAD:
+BOBBY
+Y'awl wawnt sum sweet tay?
+```
+
+## Common Dialogue Mistakes
+
+### On-the-Nose Dialogue
+Characters saying exactly what they feel/think without subtext.
+
+### Exposition Dumps
+Long speeches that exist only to inform audience.
+
+### All Characters Sound the Same
+Lack of distinctive voice for each character.
+
+### Unnecessary Dialogue
+Greetings, small talk, or information already shown visually.
+
+### Overwriting
+Too many words when fewer would be more powerful.
+
+### Unnatural Formality
+Characters speaking like they're reading from a book.
+
+## Best Practices
+
+### DO
+✅ Read dialogue aloud to test naturalness
+✅ Use contractions in casual speech
+✅ Let characters interrupt and overlap
+✅ Include subtext and hidden meanings
+✅ Give each character distinctive voice
+✅ Cut unnecessary words
+✅ Use silence strategically
+✅ Make every line serve multiple purposes
+
+### DON'T
+❌ Have characters explain things they both know
+❌ Use dialogue for stage directions
+❌ Write speeches when conversation works better
+❌ Forget that people lie and hide feelings
+❌ Make every character eloquent
+❌ Include real-life filler ("um," "uh") excessively
+❌ Use dialogue to describe what we can see
+
+## Category-Specific Considerations
+
+### Film
+- Economy of words
+- Visual storytelling reduces dialogue need
+- Subtext over exposition
+
+### Television
+- Character voice consistency across episodes
+- Catchphrases and recurring patterns
+- Balance between episodic and serialized dialogue
+
+### Web Content
+- Punchy, quotable lines
+- Faster pace
+- Modern vernacular
+
+### Commercials
+- Every word counts
+- Clear call-to-action
+- Memorable phrases
+