How can you create a sense of empathy and connection with your characters through dialogue?

Two things to make your characters attractive to viewers. 1) Give your characters universal values that the audience will like so they will then want to follow your character. Part of this is to give your lead character virtues that the audience will respond to. These will come out in action, choices, and dialog. 2) Use implication in your dialog, then the audience will be forced to discern the exact explicit meaning itself, thus drawing it closer to your characters and story.

I always like to illustrate all of my characters and create detailed backstories for all before I start structuring and plotting all of my arcs. It gives me a visual reminder of the character I’m writing for and helps me stay on track. I also try to write as much based on memory as I can about common shared experiences. This can help you to really stay grounded and in the scene. Shared experiences are what really give characters emotional depth and help them to connect or disconnect from the audience.

What's My Motivation?! I would like to caveat this topic by widening the word 'character'. We all have a tremendous capacity as humans to accept a wide range of styles in drama and comedy - from cartoons, sit-coms, soaps & superheroes to real life dramas and relationships. What these various genres all have in common is imagination. Unless the script writer(s) is exceptional, most 'characters' actors play are sketchy, stereotypical or simply form a function for moving a story forward. In other words, the actors job is to fill in the gaps of a character where there is no indication script wise, of their motivation, habits or characteristics. So, imagination is king - and this is why an actor can play a horse, a heroine, Barbie or Cleopatra!

Creating empathy and connection with characters through dialogue is an art of authenticity. I infuse their speech with relatable emotions and experiences. Each line is a window into their thoughts, revealing vulnerabilities and strengths. Varied tones and cadences mirror real-life conversations. Subtext and nuance allow audiences to interpret deeper emotions. By making dialogue a true reflection of the character's essence, I invite viewers to empathize and forge a genuine connection with the narrative personas.

Word Salad! What's so brilliant about being an actor is that you can pretend to be someone else. There are two ways to do this - by word - by movement - or a combination of both. Mime and clowning do not need dialogue - and story telling and dialogue do not need movement - but put together..an explosion! As a voice actor I have to 'fill in' for the lack of movement by vocal variation - just as clowning has to amplify slap stick and facial expression to make up for the absence of dialogue. So, next time you have some dialogue - isolate it from movement - get a friend to listen to your lines - they should stand alone - conjuring up emotions and a picture of who the character is. Ask your friend 'what does my character look/move like?'

Follow a certain style when you are writing dialogues. They need to match to the body language and the the defined mentality of the charactor. The dialogues should match to the limit of thinking of the charactor and its motive.

It's The Way That You Say It! The famous playwright Harold Pinter explored the 'spaces between' the dialogue. It's not always what a character says - it can be also what is left out - written between the lines - that adds to the palette of dialogue. Like most actors, when the script arrives, the first question that pops into my mind is 'how many lines have I got?!'. The real question should be 'what's my character like?!' For example, would you rather play a two dimensional love interest with 200 lines or the psycho baddie with 100 lines - there is no contest! It's how you use the lines you've got! When Clint Eastwood played 'the Man with No Name' in Spaghetti Westerns, he would cut most of his lines knowing his silence created his mystery.