Write a conversation in which no character speaks more than three words per line of dialog.*
“I did it!” Nora cheered.
Nick turned away from the punch bowl. “Did what?”
“It!” She smiled slyly.
“You know.”
“You did not.”
“Did!”
Nick watched Nora dubiously.
“When? With who?”
“Batman over there.”
Nick looked across into the crowded dining room to where Batman and Batgirl stood holding up a wall. Batman was fidgeting with the waistband of his costume. Batgirl, cocked on one leg with her arms crossed, scanned the revelers.
Nick couldn’t identify the alter egos behind the costumes.
“Who is that?”
“I’m not telling,” Nora teased.
“Is it Regan?”
Nora smiled over at Batman, but said nothing.
“Well, is it?”
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not.”
“Good,” she concluded. “Your turn!”
*My work from an exercise during “The 1-Day MFA: Lessons in Voice, Character, and Dialogue with Sara Kocek,” a workshop designed to condense the most important lessons of an MFA degree into one comprehensive tutorial, put on by the Writers’ League of Texas. (To not waste any of the 10 minutes thinking up character names, so I used Nick and Nora from the Thin Man movies.)