You know that scene you've been avoiding? The one where two characters need to have an actual conversation, but every time you try to write it, the dialogue sounds like robots reading from a customer service script? Yeah, that one.

Here's the thing: most advice about dialogue tells you what good dialogue looks like—"make it sound natural," "give each character a unique voice," "avoid small talk." But when you're staring at a blank page, knowing what the end result should look like doesn't help you actually create it.

Enter The Twenty Ideas Technique, a creativity tool originally developed by productivity consultant Bryan Mattimore that works brilliantly for dialogue problems. The premise is simple but counterintuitive: when you're stuck, force yourself to generate exactly twenty solutions to your problem. Not five. Not "a few." Exactly twenty.

Why does this work for dialogue specifically? Because the first five ideas you generate will be clichéd. The next five will be obvious. But somewhere between idea eleven and twenty, when you're scraping the bottom of your creative barrel and getting desperate, that's when the good stuff emerges.

Why Dialogue Blocks Are Different

Before we dive into the technique, let's acknowledge why dialogue creates such specific blocks. Unlike description or action, dialogue requires you to simultaneously:

- Channel two (or more) different personalities
- Advance the plot naturally
- Reveal character without being obvious
- Create rhythm and pacing
- Sound realistic without being boring

No wonder your brain freezes. You're trying to juggle five balls while also making it look effortless. The Twenty Ideas Technique works because it removes the pressure to get it right immediately. You're just generating options—twenty of them—which frees your brain to play.

How to Apply The Twenty Ideas Technique to Dialogue

Here's the step-by-step process:

Step 1: Identify the specific dialogue moment you're stuck on. Don't be vague. Not "the conversation in chapter three," but "the moment when Sarah has to tell Marcus she's leaving town, and he needs to react in a way that shows he cares but won't admit it."

Step 2: Set up your list. Open a fresh document and number from 1 to 20. This is crucial—seeing all those empty slots creates a contract with yourself to fill them all.

Step 3: Generate twenty different ways the dialogue exchange could go. Each entry should be the actual dialogue, not a description of it. Write the words characters would say, even if they're terrible. Aim for 2-4 lines of back-and-forth per idea.

Step 4: Embrace the garbage zone. Ideas 1-10 will probably be mediocre. Don't judge. Keep going. The magic happens in the second half.

Step 5: Mine your list. Once you hit twenty, read through and highlight anything that surprises you. Often, you won't use one idea wholesale—you'll combine elements from three different entries.

A Concrete Example in Action

Let's say you're stuck on this scene: A teenager needs to tell their parent they lost their college scholarship. You know the parent will be disappointed, but you don't want a clichéd yelling match or a melodramatic guilt trip. Here's what a partial Twenty Ideas list might look like:

Ideas 1-3 (The obvious ones):
1. "Mom, I need to tell you something. I lost the scholarship." / "You WHAT?"
2. "Don't be mad, but..." / "What did you do?"
3. "I messed up." / "How bad is it?"

Ideas 8-10 (Getting slightly more interesting):
8. "Remember how you always say mistakes are learning opportunities?" / "What did you do?" / "Learn this one with me?"
9. "I need to show you an email." / "Is someone hurt?" / "No, but..." / "Then we'll figure it out."
10. [Kid starts doing dishes without being asked] / "What's wrong?" / "What makes you think something's wrong?"

Ideas 16-18 (The zone where it gets weird and good):
16. "How much do you have in savings?" / "Why?" / "Because I need to know how angry to let you be."
17. "I've been writing a pros and cons list." / "For what?" / "For whether to tell you now or wait until you've had dinner."
18. "Do you remember being my age and screwing something up so bad you couldn't fix it?" / [Parent stops, looks at kid differently] / "Why?"

See what happened? Entry #18 completely flips the dynamic. Instead of confessing directly, the kid is asking the parent to remember their own fallibility first—which is more sophisticated than any of the early entries. You might never have arrived at that approach without forcing yourself past idea fifteen.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Pitfall #1: Stopping at ten. Your brain will tell you you've got enough options. You don't. The rule is twenty for a reason.

Pitfall #2: Writing descriptions instead of dialogue. Don't write "Marcus says something sarcastic to deflect." Write the actual sarcastic line, even if it's bad: "Cool, great, love that for you."

Pitfall #3: Self-censoring. Ideas 12-17 might be absurd, melodramatic, or completely wrong for your story's tone. Write them anyway. They're stepping stones to idea 18.

Pitfall #4: Expecting one perfect answer. Often, you'll use the emotion from one entry, the rhythm from another, and a specific word choice from a third. That's exactly how this should work.

Making It a Habit

The Twenty Ideas Technique isn't just for major dialogue blocks. Use it for:

- A character's opening line in a scene
- How a character says "no" to a request
- The subtext beneath a seemingly simple exchange
- A confrontation that keeps feeling flat

The more you practice this technique, the faster you'll move through the twenty ideas. Eventually, you'll find your brain starts skipping to the interesting stuff earlier—but you'll still do all twenty, because that's the discipline that unlocks the creativity.

Your Brain on Twenty Ideas

What actually happens neurologically when you do this exercise? You're forcing your brain past its default patterns—past the dialogue you've heard in movies, past the exchanges you've read in other books, past your own habitual phrases. By idea seventeen, your brain is desperate enough to pull from deeper memory, make unexpected connections, and surprise you.

That's where natural, believable dialogue lives: in the surprising connections you make when you've exhausted all the obvious ones.

So go ahead. Pull up that scene you've been avoiding. Number a page from 1 to 20. And start writing bad dialogue until it becomes good dialogue. Your characters—and your readers—will thank you.