101 Best Dialogue and Screenwriting Prompts

There are many pieces that need to fit perfectly in order to produce high-quality screenwriting. We will focus on developing two crucial aspects in the screenwriting process, and those are the dialogue and setting the scene.

A line has to be provocative enough to inspire a response, so the dialogue prompts bellow do exactly that – they guide you into character and plot development by using dialogue properly.

In addition, the screenwriting prompts will give you a glimpse into a cinematic microcosm that you will need to transform into a cinematic macrocosm.

If you want to streamline the screenwriting process, you can also generate a custom book template with AI:

• Dialogue prompts
• Screenwriting prompts
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Dialogue prompts

Dialogue in movies, in theater plays, and in books should have a natural flow. Sometimes it can be deceptively simple, sometimes provocative, and sometimes very straightforward.

Here you can find 40 dialogue prompts that can start the creative process. Think of situations in which a person might actually say these sentences. Then, try to come up with several possible responses. Different responses can give you the opportunity to explore the action in different genres. If you get excited by reading the dialogues – that’s definitely a good sign.

1. I need a way, not an excuse.
2. Your voice. It’s different. You’re different.
3. This was a mistake. I’m not letting you take her off life support.
4. I said it first. It’s mine.
5. Is this your first time here?
6. What are you reading?
7. We need to come up with a new strategy.
8. You should have come to the funeral. Mother was expecting you. She was very disappointed.
9. You always say that you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but can you handle the truth?
10. Imagine you were the master of the Universe.
11. Is that all?
12. Things haven’t been right between us ever since that night in Aspen. You can’t say you haven’t thought about it. I have. A million times. Every time I close my eyes before falling asleep.
13. You will forget about our hugs and kisses because now… now you have no choice.
14. I wasn’t sure you remembered me.
15. Open your door and your heart. I’m coming home.
16. I miss seeing your face every morning. I don’t miss your breath.
17. Keep your hands where I can feel them.
18. If I wanted a stupid solution to a real problem, I would ask you.
19. I don’t want to be alone tonight.
20. Please, I can explain!
21. This is a very big favor you’re asking. It looks more like a sacrifice.
22. Were you careful? Did anyone follow you? A lot is at stake here!
23. You weren’t informed because this was way above your pay-grade.
24. She is too precious for humanity not to do anything to save her, even if it means risking our own lives.
25. We’ve started communicating better after the divorce.
26. There is something in her eyes… I’m telling you – she has superpowers!
27. Your wife has been in an accident.
28. How could you do this to me? I thought you were dead! You let me grieve for so long! I kept thinking about all the thing I wanted to say to you, but never had the chance. How? How could you do this to me?
29. Congratulations! You’ll get to meet my highly dysfunctional family for Christmas.
30. Why are you doing this? Is my daughter okay? I will pay anything, just please don’t hurt her!
31. You pay more attention to the Persian rugs than you do to me. They are just things! They don’t have a soul! But I do! And you’re crushing it with all the force you’ve got!
32. I’ve never been abroad. When I get the chance, I would like to visit Dubrovnik.
33. I was looking forward to our romantic evening. Why does this wine taste funny?
34. I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your source is dead.
35. In a fake-news era, truth becomes an imperative.
36. Doctor Jones, please come at once. I have never seen anything like this.
37. Despite the rumours, I am sure that there aren’t any ghosts in this large Victorian house.
38. How long have we known each other? Forever! I would never betray your trust!
39. I didn’t mean to kill him! I only wanted to scare him!
40. It’s scary to bring a child into this horrible, horrible world.

Screenwriting prompts

These prompts assist potential writers to get inspired and try their hand at writing different genres. Being versatile as a screenwriter is important for perfecting the craft. The following prompts set particular scenes, characters, and situations, but it is your inventiveness that will bring these scenes to life.

1. Think about your favorite film. Change the ending.
2. A dead body is the library floor. The window is wide open and a breeze is moving the curtains. The globe is broken next to the body. A copy of the Bible is placed on the back of the body.
3. A woman sits on the edge of a bridge. A man slowly approaches her and talks to her in a low and soothing voice. She responds to his attempt to establish communication. They start talking, and the woman starts crying. He helps her get up. She moves away from the edge while holding the stranger’s hand.
4. Two male characters enter a seemingly deserted building. Shortly after the building explodes. The two characters are seen fleeing the crime scene.
5. A pilot gets into a futuristic aircraft and leaves many worried faces on the ground.
6. A group of actors rehearse on a theater stage. The director isn’t pleased with the performance. He jumps on the stage and starts giving directions to the lead actor. He advises him not to use elaborate gesticulations while acting and be more subtle.
7. Two main characters from two different movies meet and have a conversation that leads to one character killing the other one.
8. In an apocalyptic world building and cars are left empty and only a handful of pregnant women are roaming the empty streets frightened and deteriorated.
9. A person is in his study. The shelves are stacked with books, old maps, and globes. The person is writing on a parchment using his quill. He seems apprehensive. He takes a small knife he uses for opening his letters and he runs the tip of the blade through the candle flame. Then, he makes a small cut and a few blood drops fall on the table. He dips the quill in the blood and as he gets prepared to sign his name at the bottom of the page, black letters spontaneously appear on his arm.
10.  Three people are riding the elevator when it suddenly stops. One of the people starts panicking as she is claustrophobic. The other person calms her down, while the third one tries to find some help. It becomes obvious that they would spend some time together stuck on the 11th floor. They start talking, when the woman who is afraid of closed spaces discovers the identity of one of the people there.
11. A dinner scene. A large dining table, with different kinds of food and expensive cutlery. The guests are well-dressed and well-rehearsed in etiquette. A senior member of the family announces a change in his will. Everybody on the table is horrified.
12.  A married couple is having a fight about the wife’s infidelity. Things get heated, and then the husband confesses to having multiple affairs. Suddenly both of them stop talking. There is heavy silence between the two spouses.
13. A person who claims to be innocent is interrogated by two detectives in an interrogation room. He is claims that he hasn’t even met the murder victim.
14. A man is talking on the phone when a truck crashes into him, causing the car to fall into the abyss.
15. A person packs her belongings into card boxes because she plans to move into a new apartment. She finds a photo of her and her best friend. A moment of happiness on her face is quickly substituted for a sad, nostalgic smile.
16. A woman is swimming in a pool when suddenly a man in a wet suit attacks her and pulls her down. She is fighting for her life, but the man manages to overpower her completely.
17. A helicopter is hovering above a snowy mountain top where some hikers got lost.
18. A hacker steals his stepfather’s medical records.
19. Terrorists threaten with a bomb unless their demands are met.
20. A young student gets a scholarship to study at Harvard.
21. A trial scene. The setting is a courtroom. The defense attorney is cross-examining the witness. The scene is emotional because the attorney manages to get the truth from the witness that exonerates her client.
22. In the middle of the night a woman runs out of the house covered in blood and screams for help. Somebody broke into her house and killed her husband. All of the neighbors rush out to help her. One of them is the killer, although nobody is aware of that.
23. A man takes up dancing because his wife used to beg him to do that. After her sudden death, he decides to honor her wish. The new chapter in his life promises new love.
24. A woman is walking her pet in the park. At one point, she drops the leash, and the dog finds a friend in the park. The woman makes a witty remark, which prompts a pleasant conversation between her and a handsome man. He asks for her number so that they could go on a date.
25. Many people are attending a funeral. The police are also present at the cemetery.
26. A math teacher calls the parents of a gifted boy to suggest a more advanced curriculum.
27. A famous composer is shown in the creative process of composing a musical masterpiece.
28. A politician is delivering a speech in front of a crowd when a sniper shoots and misses him.
29. Young people are singing and dancing at a concert.
30. Passengers on a plane start panicking when they learn that there is a serious problem with one of the engines. The flight attendants try to calm them down, but with little success. The plane starts falling and everybody starts screaming and praying.
31. A football coach gives his players a hard time for the humiliation they suffered during their last game.
32. A fisherman in Norway is casting nets and stays calm in his little boat.
33. Five children ride their bikes in the forest when they see something extraordinary. One of them panics and wants to go back and bring his parents, but the other children act in a braver way, as if they were mature enough.
34. A birthday party goes wrong when the boy’s father returns home drunk and aggressive.
35. A girl writes in her diary about the boy she likes, about the teachers she dislikes, and about the fights with her sister. Suddenly, her sister enters the room, they have a big fight over something trivial, and her sister snatches the diary. She gets angry when she reads a few lines about herself in the diary.
36. Soldiers practice before going to war. They are worn out, but still manage to complete the drills.
37. An exotic woman enters the caste and catches everybody’s eyes. Nobody knows anything about her, but she seems mesmerizing.
38. Supernatural forces frighten tourists because they want to be left alone, in peace.
39. A serious man is a visitor at a psychiatric hospital. She starts smiling when he sees one person in particular.
40. Turn a well-known tragedy into a comedy by changing the ending and adding elements of a parody.
41. A bank robbery ends in blood and tears.
42. The child of a renowned cardiologist is kidnapped. The kidnapper asks for the doctor’s heart in exchange for his daughter’s life.
43. A history teacher is speaking with the students about Martin Luther King.
44. An improv exercise ends horrible when one of the students dies on the stage in the middle of the act.
45. A woman wakes up to find herself in a neon world. The sky is pink, the trees are orange, and the grass is purple. Soon she realizes that the events from the previous night led to this unusual and scary experience.
46. A man goes into a church wanting to confess something to a priest.
47. A patient is lying on the sofa while talking to a psychiatrist.
48. This scene is a flashback that you would add to a movie that you really like.
49. A man has a nervous breakdown after receiving devastating news.
50. A serial killer is planning his new killing while mocking the incompetence of the police.
51. A family spend the entire day at the ZOO.
52. Three girls are walking on the beach in the morning when they notice a body that has been washed up on the sand. Alarmed, they call the police immediately.
53. A dark wizard is summoning the dark forces to help him conquer the world.
54. A young painter is painting a portrait of an elegant, wealthy, and mysterious woman.
55. Several campers are setting their tents in the mountain.
56. A famous TV host is receiving a prestigious award.
57. A brilliant detective has been hired to investigate the disappearance of a king’s daughter.
58. Human pilots are getting ready to attack alien spaceships.
59. An archaeologist finds the holy grail.
60. A man enters a British reality show.
61. Somebody leaves a black rose at the doorstep of a beautiful woman every day. The woman decides to set up a camera.

Conclusion

Exploring the best dialogue and screenwriting prompts offers an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their dialogue-writing skills. A dialogue writing prompt helps writers overcome writer’s block and inspire creativity, providing fresh ideas to start writing a new story or take an existing one in a different direction. Whether you’re the only person working on your screenplay or collaborating with others, these prompts will stimulate your writing process, improve your ability to write good dialogue and create authentic and engaging conversations. Dialogue exercises within this collection encourage you to play with words, ensuring that what your characters say is not just heard but truly felt by the audience. The prompts promise to be a beacon of hope for writers looking to break through creative standstills, enabling you to craft scenes where every line is impactful, whether it’s a first-sight encounter or a missed connection. With these prompts, you’ll find that waiting for inspiration is no longer necessary—just start writing and watch your ideas take flight.

FAQs

Here are some commonly asked questions about dialogue prompts:

How to write good dialogue for a screenplay?

To write good dialogue for a screenplay, use dialogue writing prompts to spark creativity and practice writing dialogue regularly. Engage with each dialogue prompt to explore different character voices and scenarios, which can inspire writers to craft authentic and compelling conversations. Remember, the key is to ensure that every line serves a purpose and sounds natural as if only one person could say it that way.

What is the best topic for dialogue writing?

The best topic for dialogue writing is one that creates conflict or reveals character, such as a disagreement between two friends or a pivotal moment of decision. These scenarios provide rich opportunities to showcase character motivations and advance the plot through engaging in authentic conversations.

How do you write clever dialogue?

To write clever dialogue, ensure characters talk in a sharp, witty manner that reveals their personalities. Start with a strong idea for each conversation, focusing on subtext and humor. This approach makes the dialogue engaging and memorable.

What are the pillars of screenwriting?

The pillars of screenwriting include a strong narrative structure, well-developed characters, compelling dialogue, and visual storytelling. Using writing prompts can help generate ideas and overcome creative blocks, ensuring you don’t wait for inspiration to strike but actively cultivate it.

Josh Fechter

Josh is the founder and CEO of Squibler. He's authored several best-selling books and created one of the largest communities of writers online.