What's my motivation?
The next time you watch a movie, watch for the non-verbal actions from the actors. A really good actor won't just say her lines and stand there. And believe me, nothing a great actor does is without purpose.
Watch his facial queues, what's he doing with his hands, what's his posture, what tone of voice, is he fidgeting, is he stuttering?
All these things enhance and bring to the scene/dialogue.
A question actors will often ask of their directors is: What's my motivation?
Let's say a character is talking to his dad.
Billy: Hey Dad. How are you?
Dad: Good, you look taller.
Billy: I'm sitting. Besides, you say that every time you see me.
Dad: Maybe if I saw you more often I wouldn't notice as much.
Billy: Yeah, well, we know who to thank for that.
Actor playing Billy says to Martin Scorcese, "What's my motivation?"
I'll do one. Then write out in prose how it affects the scene and actions.
Scorcese: Okay, Billy. You're Dad's in prison for murdering your mom. You hated your mom. She abused you. You were only sorry Dad got caught. Deep down you blame your mom for everything.
Action!
Billy sat at the plate glass marveling at how close he could actually sit to Dad, and not even touch his hand. He shifted around in his chair. What's taking him so long? Did he forget? Dad finally arrived. Looked like Hell. Did he get beaten by prison guards?
"Hey Dad, how are you?"
"Good. You look taller."
Billy smirked. "I'm sitting. Besides, you say that every time you see me."
"Maybe if I saw you more often I wouldn't notice as much." The trip from Owensville to the State Pen. took two hours. If only Dad hadn't gotten caught. That witch deserved to go. After all she'd done. It was her fault he was locked up. Locked up for saving him. Billy sighed and gave Dad poignant smile. "Yeah, well, we know who to thank for that."
Now, let's say the motivation is different.
Scorcese: OK, Billy. You have to visit your dad in order to find out why he murdered your mom. It's part of his closure process according to his shrink and he won't sign off on your probation until you've completed his treatment. But you can't abide even looking at the bastard who killed your mother.
Action!
Billy paced around before the plate glass, hating the fact that his shrink advised him to come here. This was sick. But getting Dr. Crane to sign off on his papers was the only way he'd finish his probation, so whatever. Finally, Dad arrived and sat behind the protective barrier.
"Hey Dad, how are you?" Billy barely made eye contact as he sat.
"Good. You look taller."
Billy flipped him the bird. "I'm sitting. Besides, you say that every time you see me." He glared at the clock. Five minutes. That's all he needed to do. Then he was outta there. Never coming back to see that bastard again, until the day they strapped him down and pumped him up full of lethal drugs.
"Maybe if I saw you more often I wouldn't notice as much," Dad said.
Billy slammed the plate glass with his hands. Snarling, he bolted up, his chair flew back and hit the wall. No way he was going to allow the man who murdered his mother turn the tables of blame on him. '"Yeah, well, we know who to thank for that!"
Same lines, different motivation and different non-verbal cues. When writing scenes with dialogue, you must know what is making your character tick. You must know what they want more than anything else not just during the scene, but for the character's entire life. This will shape everything your character says, does, and how he says and does it. Try to capture not just the internal thought, but the external visual cues too. Even better, make the external cues contradict the internal motivation sometimes. This will convey a feeling of tension and inner conflict to your reader.
