“My husband is driving me crazy.” Sally sat down on the Adirondack chair facing the morning sun, lifted her face to it, closed her eyes. “I just want to sit here and not talk.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did you have a nice visit to your mother-in-law’s house this weekend?”

She opened an eye. “My husband and I rode home in two-and-a-half hours of stone silence.”

“Ah,” I said. “Silence that speaks a thousand words. A form of dialogue in itself, which is what I wanted to talk to you about today.”

“How is silence a form of dialogue?”

“I’m certain you communicated, even if you didn’t use words, right?”

She made a face.

I laughed. “Great dialogue raises conflict and contains subtexting about the deeper issues of the story.”

“I’ve heard of subtexting, but I have no idea what that is.”

“Subtexting is the foundation of all great dialogue, and what makes dialogue really come to life. Everything you say, how you say it, what you do with your body language, and even internal monologue has meaning. Which means that behind every conversation is a bigger message, a deeper meaning.

Subtexting is the meaning behind the words, what the characters are really communicating by their tone of voice, their body language, their internal thought, even the precision of their words to mean something else. As you build your dialogue, Subtexting will embed everything you create.”

“You mean that everything we say has a double meaning?”

“No. Everything piece of dialogue has a deeper meaning, expressed in what is said, or not said, in the meaningful action or body language, in the tone, and even the “conflict’ words used. We’re going to talk this month about all these elements of dialogue.

“First, however, let’s take a look at how dialogue actually works. When an author is creating dialogue, often it comes out as two people having a mundane conversation. We’re going to solve that problem by adding some tricks and techniques, but a bigger solution is understanding the rhythm and flow of dialogue. Many times the problem with stalled dialogue is simply because the author has forgotten an important step in the flow.”

I picked up a rock that I’d stolen from the beach, and tossed it out into the water. Ripples surrounded the place where it landed. “I like to think of great dialogue as a rock landing in water. It all starts with one drop. The rock starts the dialogue and it causes a ripple effect.”

“This is the important missing step in so much dialogue…the way the character interprets the first “stone thrown.” Consider every powerful conversation you’ve ever had – was it the words that make it impactful, or was it the way you interpreted what was said? Every character involved in the dialogue will interpret the words in a different way, based on their goals, needs, wants and fears.”

“Imagine a character says something innocuous, but the second character interprets what they say negatively. Perhaps their feelings are hurt. Perhaps they are angered. Now, they have a choice. They can either react to the words…or not. When they don’t react at all, then you lose your opportunity for powerful dialogue. But if they react, the ripples continue. Often, dialogue stalls or feels stale and unrealistic because we forget the simple step of interpretation.”

“In powerful dialogue, the interpretation is followed by a Reaction. Preferably in dialogue, although it can be in body language or meaningful action, also. The Reaction will be guided by the goals of the characters as well as the things they fear. And the cycle continues. The second character interprets the response of the first character, reacts, and the conversation continues. And it doesn’t have to be a fight – it might be a highly emotional revelation. Or a moment of vulnerability. But it’s all based on this rhythm of action – interpretation – reaction.”

“The reaction might even be non-verbal dialogue, like when I slowly reach for my door handle when my husband is driving too fast,” Sally said. “That starts a few ripples.”

“Exactly, because he interprets your “communication” as criticism, and then reacts to his interpretation.”

“If he didn’t react, then it wouldn’t escalate into a fight as we travel down the highway.”

“Subtexting is how you build in meaning behind the response – in tone, word, or action. It’s also when you talk about one thing, and mean another, like a word picture, or metaphorical speech. In short it’s everything behind the words that add the deeper level of meaning.”

She sighed.

“I think that’s enough subtexting for today,” I said. “I’ll go get you a Frappucino.”

Happy Writing!

Susie May

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