What People Do While They Speak

Dialogue and Action

In life, we rarely sit perfectly still while we reveal our hearts. We fidget with napkins, we look at our watches, we adjust the blinds to avoid a direct gaze. Today, I was revising a scene of dialogue and realized it felt like a tennis match—two heads swinging back and forth, words flying across the net, but no bodies in the room.

Dialogue gains its weight through the friction of action. The most interesting conversations are often the ones where the body is lying. If a character says “I’m fine” while meticulously picking a loose thread from their sleeve until the fabric begins to unravel, we know they are anything but fine.

The action provides the subtext. It creates a secondary melody that either supports or contradicts the lyrics of the speech. When you write dialogue, ask yourself what the character’s hands are doing. Are they building something or tearing it down? Add an action today that contradicts what your character is saying. Watch the scene suddenly gain a third dimension.

The Monroe Minute Add an action that contradicts your character’s dialogue.

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.