Dialogue: "I think I've heard this one before"
Purpose: Students will practice managing large sections of dialogue in a single setting.
Description: Raymond Carver wrote several stories in which the action of the story is contained within a single setting and conversation. Though this model tends to prove difficult for beginning writers, practicing ways to create a story arc simply through what is said is often useful.
Suggested Time: 30 minutes
Procedure: Begin by reading one of the selected stories and discuss what good dialogue looks like and what it does for the story overall. Make a list on the board and have students voice their answers. Then, have students write a story in which one person tells another person a story. The listener should be reluctant to hear the story. They should follow the characteristics of good dialogue they just made. Afterwards, have students reflect on what they might add, edit, or complicate from that list based on their own writing experience.
Additional Information: This activity may be used in class or as a homework assignment but should be introduced with a discussion of how conversation stories work. A good—and relatively short—example is Peter Orner’s “The Raft,” which was originally published in The Atlantic Monthly.Longer examples include Carver’s “Where I’m Calling From” and Charles Baxter’s “Poor Devil,” which is available online.