Talk the Talk. Penny Penniston
or film. Whoever they are, they should a) be well known; and b) have done an extensive amount of speaking. In other words, it's not enough for the person to be famous. He should also have a famous voice. Here are a few examples from one of my lists:
• Kramer (from Seinfeld)
• Bill O'Reilly
• Tony Soprano
• Barack Obama
• Lisa Simpson (from The Simpsons)
• Blanche DuBois
2. Each writer draws a name from the list of famous voices. The assignment is to write a monologue in which that character speaks on the following topic:
Describe your favorite color to someone who has been blind since birth.
3. As you write the monologue, you must follow these rules:
• The goal is to imitate the voice as accurately and realistically as possible. Make sure that you avoid parody.
• In the monologue, avoid names or references that could instantly identify the character. For example, if you are writing a monologue for Lisa Simpson, it is cheating to include a line like “That's what I told my brother, Bart,” or “Here we are in Springfield.”
For Discussion:
1. Read each monologue aloud to the group. Evaluate the personality of the voice. How would you describe this character? What in the dialogue influences your perception?
2. Have the group look at the character list and try to guess who the speaker is.
3. Survey the people who guessed correctly. What was it about the monologue that made them able to identify the character?
4. Survey the people who guessed incorrectly. What was it about the monologue that threw them off and left them unable to identify the character?
5. Were there any sections of the monologue where the writer cheated? Did he use any specific names or references that immediately gave away the identity of the speaker?
6. Have each writer discuss how he approached the monologue. What specific vocal patterns did he notice in the character's speech and try to recreate in the monologue? What was the most challenging aspect of writing the monologue? In approaching the challenging parts, what did the writer do to overcome those challenges? What insights about dialogue writing can be gleaned from that approach?
LESSON 2: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED EXERCISE
1. For this exercise, you will need to select a person whose voice is unfamiliar to you. This might be a distant acquaintance or it might be a well-documented but still obscure public figure. Whoever it is, the person should be real (not fictional). Immerse yourself in that person's voice for a week. If you know the person, interview her in detail and ask her about her life. Spend as much time as possible with her in different social settings. If the person is a public figure, spend a week listening to her speeches, public interviews, or broadcasts. Read material that will give you background information on her life (interviews, biographies, memoirs, etc).
2. After spending the week becoming familiar with the new subject, write a monologue capturing that person's voice. The monologue can be on any subject you wish, but it must obey the following rules:
• The monologue must be completely original. Do not simply cobble together existing statements by the subject.
• The monologue must be set in a particular time and place and it must be spoken to a particular person or people. In stage directions before the monologue, describe where the subject is when she speaks. Describe exactly whom she is speaking to.
For Discussion:
Each author should read his monologue out loud to the group. Do not read the stage directions out loud, only the monologue.
1. Upon hearing the monologue, what are the group's impressions of the speaker? How would the group describe her?
2. What verbal habits or tics do you notice in the speaker?
3. What is the subject of the monologue? What emotional overtones does it convey?
4. Where and when does the monologue take place? Who is the subject speaking to? What other context can you glean from the monologue?
5. Why is the speaker saying this monologue? What motivates her to speak these words?
6. Ask the author: How do the group's impressions differ (if at all) from your intent? Did the group miss out on anything that you intended to convey? Did the group read anything in to the monologue that surprised you?
7. If there are different interpretations of the monologue, try to identify the elements of the monologue that led to those different interpretations.
After hearing all the monologues out loud, discuss the following:
1. When your group answered the questions above, there may have been conflicting opinions over the interpretation of some monologues. There may have been distance between what the author wrote and what the audience inferred. When is it acceptable for different audience members to have different interpretations of something that a character says? When is it acceptable for the audience to infer something that the author did not intend? When is it not acceptable?
2. Which monologues gave you the most sense of context? Which ones gave you the clearest sense of who the speaker was, where he was located, whom he was speaking to, why he was speaking, etc.? What was it about those monologues that allowed you to make such clear inferences?
LESSON 2: SOLO EXERCISE
This exercise requires a bit of eavesdropping. When you are out in public, listen in on a nearby conversation. Note the location, tone, and subject matter of the conversation. Zero in on one of the conversation participants. Focus on that person. Listen for the particular personality of that person's voice. Jot down three quotes from him as he speaks.
Take the three quotes and weave them into an original monologue that captures the conversation participant's voice. The monologue can be on the same subject as the overheard conversation, or it can be on a completely different subject.
JACK ROBIN: Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin’ yet!
—The Jazz Singer (1927)
LESSON THREE:
Creating an Original Voice
I am reading a review of a red wine:
This blend of Merlot and Cabernet Frac… tastes of ripe black fruits (blackberry, black currant, boysenberry), with hints of vanilla, cocoa, and brown spices from the oak treatment.
The most interesting voices, like the most interesting wines, contain a mix of flavors. Good writers weave multiple facets into a character's speech. Each voice is a blend of personality traits and social habits. There are overtones and undertones; there are bold statements and subtle hints. All of these come together to create a multifaceted flavor.
The easiest way to come up with an original character voice is to be one of those writers who has such a good ear for dialogue and such a strong sense of character that the voices simply start talking in your head. You can hear them even before you start writing.
However, if you're one of us mere mortals, you are going to have to rely on the second easiest method of coming up with an original character voice. You are going to have to identify the particular mix of personality traits and social habits that define your character. Then you are going to have to create the sound of that mix in speech. How does a nervous person talk? How does a dictatorial person talk? How does a person who