I am working on a short story and while there are bookend "action" scenes, the main conflict takes place between two people talking. The way I am visualizing it now, a man and woman are sitting in a diner, having coffee, while he is trying to convince her to do something she doesn't want to do. There is a lot of dialogue around their shared history and a tragic event. The stakes are very high but the bulk of the story is essentially "two people sitting in a room talking". They leave the diner for the final scene and it is mostly action. I am wondering if there are some good authors/stories that could show how to handle this type of conflict so it could work without being too "boring". Where the conflict is essentially two people talking. Thanks!
Two people talking isn't a problem, as long as the dialogue is interesting. Look at this story by Terry Bisson. All dialogue with no action. Stopping it from being 'boring' is going to be how good your content is, not the format. Good luck! ~ J. J.
A man and a woman talking? He's trying to convince her to do something she doesn't want to do? You should read Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." That's all that story is. (In the case of Hemingway's story, the man is trying to convince the woman to have an abortion.)
I've just read the novel "The Castle in the Pyrenees" by Jostein Gaarder - the whole novel is dialogue (in this case, via exchanged emails) around their shared history and a tragic event. It's worth a look.
