Dialogue - Plot - Conflict and Tension
Every line has the power to escalate tension or defuse it, to reveal fractures in relationships or widen them.
What happens when a character speaks not to share, but to survive?
✨Think about a memorable argument or intense conversation—real or fictional. What made it feel compelling? Was it the words, the subtext, the stakes involved?
Let’s Talk Tension: Why Your Dialogue Isn’t Just Talk
Dialogue, at its best, is never idle chatter. It’s subtext in motion—steeped in need, desire, resistance. When authors grasp the connection between dialogue, plot, and conflict, their scenes start to crackle with an urgency that moves more than the story. It moves the reader.
Too often, writers separate conversation from confrontation.
Every line has the power to escalate tension or defuse it, to reveal fractures in relationships or widen them.
Wield dialogue as your sharpest tool—not just for character voice, but for anchoring emotional stakes and accelerating plot. Because when every word is weighted with risk, silence becomes just as charged.
Let’s explore how to build tension through purposeful speech, action beats, and rhythm—so your characters aren’t just talking. They’re fighting, hiding, hoping, and changing.
✨Imagine two of your characters: both desperately want the same thing—but only one can have it. What kind of conversation might they have?
Pitfalls
Dialogue That “Sounds Right” But Says Nothing
Writers mimic speech rhythms but forget that every line should shift emotional or narrative momentum.
Conflict Happens Around Dialogue, Not In It
Action carries the conflict, while characters speak politely or generically.
Conflict Without Progression
The same argument plays out repeatedly, without shifting tactics or emotional stakes.
Lack of Silence and Nonverbal Cues
Dialogue becomes purely verbal, ignoring what tension sounds like when no one speaks.
Pointers
Backstory should be woven into the action naturally, like a quick, revealing remark in conversation: “You always do this,” he snapped. “Just like you did back in college.” With this approach, the tension stays alive without drowning the reader in exposition.
When crafting your story, drop clues, not paragraphs. Instead of blatant exposition, let characters reveal history naturally through tension, conflict, or personal stakes. Use the pointers below to help you create dynamic and engaging exchanges that reveal story plot to streamline your prose, then read your dialogue aloud or ask a friend to read it to you.
Every line should shift the emotional or narrative current.
Weak: “Wow, that’s crazy. I didn’t expect that.” Missing: character motive, impact—generic response without narrative weight
Better: “You always twist the truth, don’t you? Just like you did with Dad.” Why it works: Reveals emotional layers and hints at backstory through confrontation.
Embed struggle in the words—layer denial, deflection, subtext, and desire right into the phrasing.
Weak: “I disagree.” Missing: stakes, tone, emotional charge
Better: “If you think I’m handing her over to you, you’ve mistaken me for someone afraid.” Why it works: Shows resistance and dominance, building tension through speech rather than relying on action alone.
Escalate or shift tactics—don't let dialogue stall.
Weak: “You never listen to me.” “Because you always nag.” Missing: movement, revelation, change
Better: “You haven’t read the letter, have you?” “Why should I? Nothing you write ever changes anything.” Why it works: Introduces a new object of tension (the letter) and emotional resignation, deepening stakes.
Use silence, gesture, and environmental response with deliberation.
Weak: “I’m fine.” Missing: subtext, contradiction, depth
Better: “I’m fine.” She folded the receipt twice, then once more, until it nearly tore. Why it works: Gesture underlines speech, suggesting repressed tension or emotional complexity.
Build tension with minimal words
Sharp, fast-paced exchanges accelerate action and tension.
“The guards are coming.”
“How many?”
“Too many. Run.”
Keep scenes dynamic & engaging
Dialogue prevents the story from feeling static by replacing lengthy internal monologues or descriptions with active exchanges.
Exposition-heavy: Mark had spent years searching for the lost artifact. He had traveled across continents, but every lead turned into a dead end.
Dialogue-driven: “Five years, five continents, and nothing. Maybe this artifact never existed.”
Insert opportunities for conflict
Conversations create natural friction between characters. Overusing narration can make interactions feel passive rather than dynamic.
Exposition-heavy: She wanted to convince him, but she wasn’t sure if he would listen.
Dialogue-driven: “Please, just hear me out,” she said. “I know what I saw.” “You always think you do,” he muttered. “But what if you're wrong?”
🌿Write a heated argument where both characters constantly interrupt each other. Use sentence fragments, overlapping dialogue, and unfinished thoughts to build urgency.
Punctuation!
Now for last week’s question: How does American English differ from British English when punctuating dialogue?
🖊️ American English: Uses double quotation marks (“ ”) for dialogue and places commas and periods, inside the quotes. Example: “I can’t believe it,” she said.
British English: Uses single quotation marks (‘ ’) for dialogue, and punctuation often goes outside. Example: ‘I can’t believe it’, she said.
The Journey Continues…
🖊️ How should a dialogue tag be punctuated when it follows dialogue? When it ends with a question? When it ends with an exclamation?
Next week, we’ll answer this question and continue our discussion with tips and tools on creating reader immersion with dialogue.
Until then, may your pages hum with purpose and clarity.