Blog: Dialogue Craft

Most on-the-nose dialogue isn't a line problem, it's a trust problem: the writer doesn't yet believe the reader will catch what's really happening. Here's how to stop over-explaining and start writing conversations that crackle with implied meaning.

When characters just come out and say exactly what they feel, the scene loses its charge. Learning to write dialogue through deflection, misdirection, and competing agendas is what separates flat exchanges from scenes readers can't put down.