Writing Workshops LA Seminar: How to Write Better Dialogue

2-Day Seminar: Dialogue Intensive (taught by Dawn Dorland Perry in Mar Vista)

Two Saturdays, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
August 8, 2015 and August 15, 2015

Dawn Dorland Perry

This two-day seminar is a comprehensive investigation into crafting convincing and effective dialogue. Convincing, to maintain an aura of reality for your reader, and effective, to serve your story and characters. By studying masterful conversations in published fiction—excerpts by Hemingway, Denis Johnson, Ron Rash, Zadie Smith, and Alice Munro—we will identify aspects of human speech that make written dialogue seem real, while considering the artistic and dramatic demands that require us to do more than transcribe reality. A dialogue exercise will be assigned in the first session and shared with the group in session two. You’ll leave with observational and dialogue-generating exercises to train your hand and ear to absorb the extraordinary conversations happening all around you. This seminar will focus on fiction, but the techniques it will cover are applicable to nonfiction writing as well.

This two-day seminar is open to students of all levels. It will be held in Mar Vista, where coffee, sparkling water, and light snacks will be served.

Enrollment limit: 8 students
$170 for new students; $150 for returning students

If you’re interested in signing up, please email enrollment@writingworkshopsla.com.