Empoword

Part One: Description, Narration, and Reflection 101 Beyond Words As you may have noticed in the previous exercises, dialogue is about more than just what the words say: our verbal communication is supplemented by inflection, tone, body language, and pace, among other things. With a partner, exchange the following lines. Without changing the words, try to change the meaning using your tone, inflection, body language, etc. A “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Can we talk about it?” “I want it.” “Have you seen her today?” After each round, debrief with your partner; jot down a few notes together to describe how your variations changed the meaning of each word. Then, consider how you might capture and relay these different deliveries using written language—what some writers call “dialogue tags.” Dialogue tags try to reproduce the nuance of our spoken and unspoken languages (e.g., “he muttered,” “she shouted in frustration,” “they insinuated, crossing their arms”). "Body Language" b y Paolo Fefe' i s licensed unde r CC BY-ND 2.0 B “Leave me alone.” “What do you want from me?” “You can’t have it.” “Why?”