What "THE BEAR" & "LADY BIRD" can teach us about writing conflict
Lesson 3 - How REAL Humans Talk! Dialogue Writing Essentials
Most great stories hinge on knotty conflicts—so your skill in writing clobberingly petty, skillfully vicious, desperate or desperately hilarious fights will help bring your work to blazing life.
I live for the “give me a number” fight scene from “LADY BIRD.” It gives me chills! Watch below how Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf puff themselves up to hide their fathoms-deep hurt (the scene’s roiling subtext):
This scene is an outstanding example of what “charged subtext” can look like in the hands of a masterful dialogue writer—soon YOU!—when characters engage in “conversational violence.”
Question: How would you describe what “Lady Bird” & “Marion” are pretending their conversation is about, versus what the ACTUAL heartbreaking subtext of this scene is?
I’d parse it as:
