Courses / English language arts / Stories and creative writing / Write what characters will not say directly INVESTIGATION 4 OF 6 Write what characters will not say directly Write dialogue in which speakers pursue different goals and use action beats to make tension inspectable.
Why learn this? Dialogue can change a relationship even when the speakers appear to discuss an ordinary object.
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1. try 2. predict 3. experiment 4. understand 5. apply 6. continue Quick recap: Subtext is an inferred purpose beneath the wording. An action beat is a small action placed around dialogue; it is not the same as a dialogue tag naming who speaks.
Lesson activities Choose your task depthHigh-school scaffold College extension Choose either at any time. Your drafts stay with you.
1. Try — read before judging Original fictional scene starter. The speakers have shared responsibility for a borrowed camera. You decide the relationship and the unresolved issue.
[A camera case sits unopened on the bench.] NELL: You brought it back. OMAR: Before six, like we said. NELL: I can see the time. OMAR: The case is dry. [NELL touches the zip.] NELL: Did you take any good pictures? OMAR: Some of them. Go directly to the workbench
2. Predict — make a provisional choice What might each speaker want the other to do? Choose a goal for each before adding dialogue. 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score 3. Experiment — test your reading Add three performance cues that show how the supplied dialogue could carry an unstated conflict. Explain actions rather than naming emotions alone. Write a 250-word continuation in which one speaker changes tactic. Avoid having both characters explain facts they already know solely for the reader. Rewrite one exchange with fewer words and a precise action beat. Explain what becomes implied and whether the reader has enough evidence to follow. Your performance score A score records interpretive choices. Select a line, choose a pause, name the words to emphasize, and explain an action or intention. No sound, recording or timed performance is needed.
Score line1: [A camera case sits unopened on the bench.] 2: NELL: You brought it back. 3: OMAR: Before six, like we said. 4: NELL: I can see the time. 5: OMAR: The case is dry. 6: [NELL touches the zip.] 7: NELL: Did you take any good pictures? 8: OMAR: Some of them. Pause after lineNo added pause Brief pause Long pause
[A camera case sits unopened on the bench.] Words to emphasize, or leave blank Direction and reason Add performance cue (0/24) Working draft / artifact 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score Keep this draft for comparison
Comparison draft Save your first version here before revising. It will remain unchanged while you edit the working draft.
Revision commentary: what changed, why, and what remains uncertain? 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score 4. Understand — connect choice and effect Nell asks about pictures; Omar answers “Some of them.” That reply leaves a gap. It could signal disappointing photographs, a technical problem, an unwanted subject or something else. The unopened case gives the conversation an action around which the uncertainty can gather. You decide how the story develops it.
Give each speaker a goal. Nell might want Omar to acknowledge a problem before opening the case. Omar might want to leave responsibility ambiguous. If both pursue those goals, an ordinary exchange about time and dryness can carry tension. If the dialogue simply explains every feeling, the characters stop trying to affect one another and begin briefing the reader.
Action beats can identify the speaker and make a tactic visible. A hand on a zip delays an opening; moving the case toward another person can transfer responsibility. Use selected actions rather than adding a gesture after every line. Too many beats can obscure the exchange instead of sharpening it.
Distinct voices need not rely on exaggerated accents or misspelled speech. Characters can differ in what they notice, the questions they answer, sentence rhythm and preferred tactics. Test the scene by removing dialogue tags temporarily: can a reader follow the exchange through context and voice? Restore whatever identification is needed. Clarity matters more than proving that every line is recognizable in isolation.
Action beat A small physical action placed around dialogue that can identify a speaker, control pace or suggest intention. Expository dialogue Speech used to convey background information, which may feel artificial when speakers explain what they already know. Worked example — a possible revision, not the only answer Before “I am upset because you might have damaged the camera we borrowed yesterday,” Nell said angrily. After Nell kept one finger on the zip. “You can open it.”
Omar set his hands behind his back. “It is your case.” The exchange transfers responsibility through an ordinary action. It creates a question without confirming that the camera is damaged.
Return to your workbench and reconsider a choice
5. Apply — make something and try a new case Your main artifact Write a dialogue scene with two goals, three action beats and a change of tactic. Add a short explanation of what is implied.
Keep your artifact in the working draft above. Suggested lengths help you plan; they do not measure quality.
Unfamiliar passage “There is still cake,” one roommate says.
“The plate is yours,” the other replies. Write two short continuations: one generous, one tense. Keep the opening words identical and use action to create the difference. 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score Save transfer response 0 saved attempt(s).
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