September 5, 2025
7-8:30pm ET / 4-5:30 PT (on Zoom)
Register today. Registrations open through August 31!
Dialogue as Engine, or How Subtext Drives a Story
September 5, 2025
7-8:30pm ET / 4-5:30 PT (on Zoom)
Join us for a 90-minute workshop and generative writing session focused on writing and revising dialogue!
The Masters Review Assistant Editor Jen Dupree has developed an engaging and informative class for prose writers to study the craft of dialogue by workshopping selected excerpts, analyzing specific techniques, and putting those techniques into practice with some generative prompts.
Great dialogue should move a story forward by revealing something about the characters or situation. It shouldn’t feel overly expository, or read like a tennis match (he said, she said, he said, she said). Dialogue demands attention be paid to what is said and what is withheld, what beats are between sentences, and how the characters act and react while speaking to one another. Writing dialogue can be a challenge for many writers, but when it’s done right it can take a story from mediocre to magnificent. In this class, we’ll workshop selected submissions, providing students an opportunity to analyze what’s working and what isn’t and why. We hope you’ll come write with us, so we’re offering this class for the low price of $20 per student! All interested are welcome, regardless of experience. A recording of the workshop will be distributed after the event to all registrants.
By the end of this generative workshop, you’ll have gained:
- Knowledge of or new insight on dialogue-specific craft moves you can use in your writing.
- Three to four new prompts to generate or reinvigorate your dialogue. Students will also be given a PDF copy of the slides, including the prompts, so they can use them in the future.
- A chance to workshop your writing, or to gain insight into your writing through the workshopping of another writer’s work.
- Dedicated writing time in an inclusive community of writers where you can feel welcomed and comfortable sharing your work and ideas.
All students should come to the workshop with a draft or section of dialogue they’d like to revise or revisit. At the time of registration, you’ll have the opportunity to submit your draft, which may be read aloud or shared with the workshop participants for live feedback during the class.
Register today. Registrations open through August 31!