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“What in the hell did I mean by giving such a ridiculous order?”

“You thought, at least for a minute, that you owned the place.”

“Well, that was a stupid mistake. What am I going to do now?”

 

 

Dialogue story starters can be tricky. We tend to read them with our logical brain and try to figure out what the writer intended.

You’re the writer here. Turn it around. Imagine you’d written the dialogue. What’s going on?

Start with this question – Who is talking? There are two people in this conversation. Who are they?

What was the ridiculous order and what “place” did they act like they owned?

Now that you have a rough idea of the scene, what’s the setting? Where are they?

What’s going to happen next? Now you can play the “What if” game. What if the “stupid mistake” put someone’s life in danger? What if it ruined a relationship or squashed an opportunity?

Have fun!