Dialogue! I have to say I love dialogue. (Haha if you've read Mr. Write then you know how true this is. My family says I'm actually a scene writer I'm just writing them in novel form.)

(See Jacob knows it's true! Also I just really wanted to use that gif)

Seeing as this is one of my favorite aspects of writing, I want to help you understand the weight dialogue holds. It is one of the biggest parts of your story. You learn a lot about a character through what they say. You also learn a lot about them through what they are not saying. It's a balance between saying what's on their mind but not making it so blunt. You want to write subtext.

Subtext is the layer of what's being said beneath what is actually spoken.

As humans we don't typically say exactly what we're thinking. We dance around a subject and say things that mean something else. Sometimes we blurt out our thoughts but that's only after we been poked and prodded and we just can't stand it.

So the same goes for your characters. They should never just bluntly spit out their thoughts. They should talk in a round about way.

This is kind of a hard thing to fully understand (and if you have caught on quickly, awesome!) I'm going to share with you a scene from Mr. Write where two of the side characters are fighting. Notice how they don't come out and say exactly what it is they are thinking. At the end I'll show you how the scene could have gone if they were blunt and said everything they were thinking.

The scene is Milo's birthday party. Milo has been avoiding Cece the last couple of days. Elliot and Beck are watching the interaction from the sidelines. (Honestly I suggest reading the book so you get the full effect. This might ruin some of it. Anyways here goes)

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(Mr. Write Scene. Chapter 22)

"There is nothing going on with me," Milo said, an undercurrent of annoyance running through his words.

"Then why aren't you talking to me?" Cece asked.

"Do I have to talk to you? It's my party, I can do whatever I want."

"Yes, but I'm your friend. I just wanted to say hi."

"Well, maybe I didn't want to talk to you," Milo said, his voice raising.

Elliot leaned against the glass wall and watched, a frown forming.

"Tell me why then," Cece said.

Milo swung his arms wide in an uncaring gesture.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I'm over it."

"Over what?" Cece said. "Milo, what is going on? What did I do?"

"Nothing."

"Okay, then what is the problem?"

"That is the problem!"

"That I did nothing is the problem?"

"Exactly. That is exactly what the problem is, you did nothing."

"If I did nothing, then why are you mad at me?"

Milo growled, his fist clenching.

"How do you not get it?" he asked. "How do you not understand that you did nothing and that's why I'm done. Done with it all."

Cece stared at Milo with wide eyes.

"You're crazy, nothing you said made any sense," she said.

"I'm crazy?!" Milo said, his face getting more and more animated with each syllable. "What's crazy is that I ever liked you. That I was an idiot and waited. That's what's crazy. But guess what Cece? I'm done. With all of it!"

Cece made a face.

"That is what this is about?" she said. "Is that why you haven't been talking to me the last few days?"

Milo's face flushed with anger. Beck leaned over to Elliot.

"Should we intervene?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "If you don't feel like keeping you head and limbs attached to your body."

Beck nodded.

"How do you not see that that is what this has always been about?" Milo said, his voice raising.

"What do you want me to say Milo?"

Milo flung his arms out to the side, spilling the contents of his drink.

"I don't know anymore and I don't care."

"About liking me or about being my friend?"

"Both. Either. Neither. I don't know! I just know for once Cece I'm tried of the games and your constant flirtation that goes no where. I want someone who makes sense."

Cece crossed her arms, her face going hard.

"Is that why started hanging out with this Soso person?" she asked.

"I like her."

Cece tossed up her hands.

"Since when?"

"Since she notices that I exist."

"I notice!"

"Yes, when it's convenient or you have a joke to tell."

Cece's expression took on a stung look.

"Do you really believe that?"

"I don't know! You have never told me anything so that I would believe otherwise!"

Cece opened and closed her mouth, fighting her stubbornness.

"Milo...I don't..."

Milo's face fell into a hard, despondent look.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said.

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So they still say things they are thinking but it takes them a long time to get there. That's what we do as humans, we avoid saying what we are really feeling. Your characters are no different. Here is a rough example (and I mean really rough) of how it could have gone if the characters said exactly what they were thinking and feeling and the dialogue was on the nose.

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"Milo," Cece said. "Why aren't you talking to me? You have been avoiding me all week."

Milo took a step back.

"I don't want to talk to you Cece because I am tired of you overlooking me."

"I don't overlook you Milo. You're my friend. You know that."

"I do know that but I like you. I have always liked you and you have done nothing but shoot me down. I don't want just be your friend. I want more."

"Milo, you know that I struggle with letting people in. I'm scared to be in a relationship."

"Well, if that's the case then I guess this is over. If you want something different then that is going to be up to you."

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Okay, that was extremely rough, but you can see what I'm getting at, right? All those emotions were in the first scene but they didn't say them out right. That's what you want to strive for in your dialogue. You want to write things that have subtext.

Subtext is simple. It could be as easy as someone looking at the person they like and saying something like:

"You know in a certain lighting you don't look half bad."

Then the other person could reply with:

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you."

They aren't saying I like you, but they are implying it in their teasing, half complimentary manner.

So take a scene you are writing and write out exactly what your characters mean. Let them talk bluntly to each other. Once that's done rewrite the same scene and see how you could change the dialogue so it still says that but in the subtext.

I hope this is helped you in someway. Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them for you!

Good luck and happy writing!