3. Dialogue

Here’s another trick, not quite so cheap. Try swapping content from one speaker to the other.

A: ‘I’ll need to catch the 8.30 train to get there in time for lunch.’
B: ‘I’ll drive you to the station after I’ve taken the kids to school.’

—becomes—

A: ‘I’ll need to get there in time for lunch.’
B: ‘The 8.30 train then? You want me to drive you to the station?’
A: ‘Is that okay? After you’ve taken the kids to school.’
B: ‘No problem.’

Questions popping up again! But the main lesson in swapping material around—and it’s only a training exercise—is that a listener is always guessing at what’s in a speaker’s mind, even while the speaker’s still speaking. Here’s an exaggerated version—

A: ‘I’ll need to get there in time—‘
B: ‘For lunch? So you’ll want to catch the 8.30 train?’
A: ‘Can you drive me to the station?’
B: ‘Should be okay, if—‘
A: ‘The kids? You’ll have time to take them to school first, surely.’

Interruptions are probably something to do in small doses; a long passage of dialogue where everyone kept jumping in on everyone else would soon become jerky and irritating. Nonetheless, it’s undeniably alive.