How can you "show, and not tell" when your characters are telling?

Lesson #4: Writing Character-Revealing Dialogue


Oh, hello 👋 It’s Savannah again!


Now time for a lesson that might sound ironic in a course about show, don’t tell (SDT) — but as it turns out, you can show just as well with dialogue as you can with sensory description.

What does it mean to show with dialogue?

While some authors exploit dialogue for info-dumping, skillfully written dialogue reveals things in a much more subtle, engaging manner. Here’s a line of dialogue that merely tells:


“There’s a pothole right in front of your house, Casey.”


Whereas this line shows the situation evocatively:


“Jesus, Casey, you need to get that thing fixed. I nearly blow out a tire every time I pull up your driveway.”


Rather than simply relating bland facts, dialogue can show a character’s experience, reveal their personality, and present their relationship to another character.

Using dialogue to show relationships and motivations

Here are a few essential tips to help you write exceptional character-building dialogue:


🤔 Choose your words carefully. Word choice is everything! Give each of your characters a few linguistic quirks: words and phrases that only they use, or sentence structures they favor. For example, one character might often speak in elaborate sentences because they want to sound fancy.


When your characters speak to each other, ensure the phrasing reflects both their overall relationship and that particular conversation's tone. This can be tough to juggle with a large cast — but the more you practice switching among relationships, the easier it will be.


🏃‍♀️ Give your characters goals for every conversation. Be mindful of your characters' motivations — both their overarching goals and what they're trying to accomplish in this conversation. Do they want something out of the other person? Is it a status battle? Or are they just trying to hurry the conversation along so they can leave?


⚖️ Keep things moving. For readers to properly absorb a piece of dialogue, it needs to stay relatively short and sweet. Try to avoid more than 100 words of unbroken dialogue; action beats and description should punctuate longer conversations. If you do have more than 100 words of dialogue in a row, make sure it's pivotal to the plot.

Subtext in dialogue

Sometimes it’s not about what a character is saying, but what they’re not saying: a seemingly minor comment can imply a lot more that goes unsaid (hello, Iceberg Theory!).


In an early season of The Office (long before Jim and Pam get together), Jim is having a rough time of it. Repeatedly sidetracked from an important sales call, he goes on to lose the sale (and his commission). But at the end of the episode, Pam leans her head on his shoulder — prompting Jim to declare, “Not a bad day.”



Though outwardly he’s making a casual comment on a mundane topic, the subtext of his feelings for Pam (she can turn his whole day around in just a few moments!) suggests something far weightier.

Great “showing” dialogue

Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows books are a masterclass in dialogue among many characters. Not only do each of her characters possess a distinctive voice, but they interact in wonderfully varied and exciting ways. Here’s an excerpt that starts with the group’s leader, Kaz, explaining how to pick a pocket:


“Let’s say the mark is a tourist walking through the Barrel. He’s heard it’s a good place to get rolled, so he keeps patting his wallet, making sure it’s there, congratulating himself on just how alert and cautious he’s being. Of course every time he pats his back pocket or the front of his coat, what is he doing? He’s telling every thief on the Stave exactly where he keeps his scrub.”

“Saints,” grumbled Nina. “I’ve probably done that.”

“Everyone does,” said Inej.

Jesper lifted a brow. “Not everyone.”

“That’s only because you never have anything in your wallet,” Nina shot back.

“Mean.”

“Factual.”

“Facts are for the unimaginative,” Jesper said with a dismissive wave.


From this, the reader can easily infer each character’s personality and role in the group. Kaz is the smart, no-nonsense boss; Nina and Jesper are the wisecrackers; Inej is the thoughtful, compassionate one.


The dialogue also has a clear purpose — Kaz laying out a scenario they’re going to replicate as part of a heist — and subtext in the form of Nina and Jesper sniping at each other to relieve their nerves about the upcoming mission.

Writing exercise

Take the one line of exposition below and relay the same information in a conversation between two characters. In addition to practicing your showing, use this opportunity to create two distinct voices. 


Taylor had graduated top of his class from one of the country's most prestigious universities, something Alex struggled to believe.


Tip: Make sure your characters aren't just talking at each other on an empty stage. Show them doing something  — anything — while engaged in conversation.


Check out the resources below for more useful dialogue tips, and check back tomorrow to learn about a different kind of dialogue: body language.


— Savannah


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