A: “Kill him.”
B: “Why that one?”
A: “Look how he slops his coffee cup!”
B: “Is THAT a reason?”
A: “Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss!”
B: “Maybe he has family?”
A: “Would you own HIM? You are doing them a favour.”
B: “You sure about this…?”
A: “LOOK at him! Disgusting, dribbled egg on his chin. Can’t even hold his cereal bowl without spilling half of it! He needs putting down.”
B: “If you’re sure…?”
A: “Yessss! You’re not getting squeamish?”
B: “We DO need the bed……..I saw him take his dish of pills but no one’s checked him off. I could give him another lot….. At 89 he’s better off dead.”
A: “Let’sssssssss DO IT!”
[TITLE: Diatribe with the Devil in a Nursing Home]

“Mother?” said the child.
“Yes, my dear?” said the mother.

What you should not do is spend a huge amount of time describing the scene. Describing how the characters act in terms of body language is o.k. But mostly, you should concentrate on the actual argument: what are they saying, how are they saying it, what is the issue at stake.

One of Weekly Writing Assignment’s very first finalists did a great job of creating an entire scene almost exclusively through dialogue. Check out Gavin St. Our’s entry Untitled.