The Unsaid Between Lines

Subtext in Dialogue

In life, we rarely speak with total transparency. We talk around our desires, use politeness as a shield, and use small talk to fill the silence of a deeper disagreement. Why, then, do we so often make our fictional characters say exactly what they are thinking?

Prose gains depth when there is friction between the words and the intent. A character might be saying the tea is excellent, but their hands might be shaking because they are terrified. This disconnect is where the reader finds the truth. The dialogue is merely the surface; the subtext is the current running beneath.

The Monroe Minute
Write four lines of dialogue where two characters are discussing something mundane (like the weather) but are actually arguing about a betrayal.

Until the next page,
Sloane S. Monroe

Sloane Shay Monroe

I don’t write to idealize love, but to explore it honestly, with emotional precision and depth.