1. The Unspoken Tension

The Power of Silence in Dialogue

We often think of dialogue as something that’s just about what characters say, but let’s talk about what they don’t say. Silence can be one of the most powerful tools in your writing toolbox. Here’s why:

1. The Unspoken Tension

When characters leave things unsaid, it adds layers to their interactions. Silence can create a tension that’s so thick you could cut it with a knife. It shows things are happening beneath the surface—the real conversation is happening in what’s left unspoken.

Example:

“So, you’re leaving, huh?” He didn’t look up from the table, his fingers tracing the rim of his glass, slow and deliberate. “Yeah.” “Guess I should’ve expected this.” (Silence.) “You’re not mad?” “I’m not mad,” she said, but the way her voice broke was louder than anything she'd said all night.

2. Building Anticipation or Drama

Sometimes silence can heighten the drama, creating a pause where the reader feels like something big is about to happen. You don’t always need words to convey that sense of dread or anticipation.

Example:

They stood there, side by side, staring at the door that had just closed behind him. “You should’ve stopped him.” She didn’t answer. “You should’ve said something.” The room felt colder. “I couldn’t.” (Silence.)

3. Creating Emotional Impact

Sometimes, saying nothing can have the biggest emotional punch. Silence gives the reader a chance to interpret the scene, to sit with the feelings that aren’t being voiced.

Example:

He opened the letter and read it. And then, without saying a word, he folded it back up and placed it in the drawer. His fingers lingered on the wood for a long time before he closed it slowly, too slowly. “Are you okay?” He didn’t answer.

TL;DR

Silence isn’t just a pause between dialogue—it’s a powerful tool for deepening emotional tension, building anticipation, and revealing character. Next time you write a scene, ask yourself: what isn’t being said? And how can that silence say more than the words ever could?

More Posts from Icylancet and Others

10 months ago

Ways We Show Love Writing Prompts

Carrying a bottle of painkillers for them

Making them laugh when they're upset

Bringing them a drink they didn't ask for

Kissing their forehead

Running your fingers through hair

Buying them something they never would have asked for

Making them their favorite meal after a long day

Knowing their schedule as well as your own

Listening to them rant

Taking interest in their hobbies

Letting them nap with their head in your lap

Doing their hair for them

Telling them to stop working so hard

Listening to their favorite music

Sitting with them after a bad day

Comforting them after a nightmare

Walking in step with them even when you don't have to

Letting them cry on your shoulder

Having their favorite snack in your bag

Squeezing them as tight as you can

Helping them move house

Buttoning up their coat for them when you don't have to

Bringing them medicine when they're sick, even though you know they won't take it

Communicating wordlessly across the room

Sharing a plate of food

Helping them build their confidence before an important meeting

Making sure they're safe on their way home

Helping them calm down

Remembering their favorite things

Rubbing their feet for them

Pulling over to comfort them

Having food ready for them when they come home

Turning off the lights when they have a migraine

Making sure they get sleep

Driving them to work just so you can have a few more minutes together

Doing their makeup for them

Buying them a piece of jewelry that reminds you of them

Dancing with them in the living room

Doing their chores for them

Holding hands when you cross the road.

3 months ago

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

A colour wheel divided into sections with dialogue tags fitting the categories 'complains', 'agrees', 'cries', 'whines', 'shouts', and 'cheers'
A colour wheel divided into sections with dialogue tags fitting the categories 'asks', 'responds', 'states', 'whispers', 'argues', and 'thinks'

Tags
2 months ago

ms2 spoilers but the scene where oz tells akira about arthur's prophecy and says like "please do not let him turn into stone... he has not yet lived 20 years" or something along those lines. and like. wow. it's just so profound and 'desperate' coming from him.

'desperate' in a way like, considering the way oz has lived his life. he doesn't form bonds or relationships or fails to sustain these bonds; it was always others reaching out to him and not the other way around,,,, then arthur comes into his life and he started finding himself reaching out to take care of arthur and reaching out to others to ask for help on how to take care of arthur LIKE. YOU GUYS GET WHAT I MEANNNN

i just finished watching the newest mahoani ep and the end gave me Food For Thought. because arthur was so distressed about the fact that he has yet to repay oz's kindness to him back in the north, but oz is just glad to see him again, taller, older, and ALIVE. i think the arthur prophecy reveal in ms2 was definitely one of my favorite ms2 moments because you could clearly read into the desperation in oz's lines. his affection for arthur ran deeper than his blood and veins to the point that he was summoned as a central wizard instead of a northern wizard; that's how deep he cares for arthur, deep enough for his pure, full northern roots to get mixed with the central ideals


Tags
10 months ago

I think one of the most fascinating aspects of Joshua's character is that he was raised by a cult that worships him and it shows.

The game is very unsubtle in depicting the Undying as a cult, if a benign one whose goals are largely aligned with Clive's: the way it recruits from the disenfranchised dredges of society, the way it isolates it's members from the outside world, and associates devotion to their deity with worth as a person, even glorifying self sacrifice even past the point of reason- something Clive and Cyril butt heads on repeatedly.

And you can see the way that both being raised by them and being their messiah has impacted Joshua: the way Joshua feels that he can and should be able to do everything on his own (rebuffing Jote's efforts to help him even with small matters, avoiding Clive in order to 'protect' him), the way he's feels a right to order the lives of others around his own wishes (his meddling in the politics of each Kingdom, especially Sanbreque), even the subtle hint that he's given up on trying to persuade the Undying not to sacrifice their lives for his gain (and the even more subtle implication that he's maybe accepted that self sacrifice is a good thing, given his own self-sacrificial tendencies for Clive).

Their's this big gap after the reveal Joshua is alive where you wonder: how did he get from where he was Phoenix Gate (the shy innocent boy who wanted to do his duty more to make his brother proud then for it's own sake) to where he is at Drake's Spine (confident, mysterious, cold blooded in his pursuit of his goals), and the game answers that so effectively in the introduction of the Undying. This is where he learned it, this is what shaped him after everything fell apart and he went into hiding: a cult that all at once was trying to parent and worship and aid a 10 year old messiah whose only real desire was to save his brother from the monster that tore them apart.

10 months ago
Family Dinner !!! (binghe Wants Moshang To LEAVE)

family dinner !!! (binghe wants moshang to LEAVE)

10 months ago
Haikyuu Screencap Redraw 🍊🫐
Haikyuu Screencap Redraw 🍊🫐

Haikyuu screencap redraw 🍊🫐

14072024

Ko-Fi

3 months ago

Recent main story updates have inspired me to make this evil freshmen relationships chart to visualize how I imagine their stuff lmao

Recent Main Story Updates Have Inspired Me To Make This Evil Freshmen Relationships Chart To Visualize

Adeuce to Aceyuu one is inspired by the contents of the book 7 dreams

For the Malleus Silver one it's less of how it actually is and more both sharing the same thought about the other

Ortho didn't fit anymore + there was lowkey no point in putting him because it would only be "friends" for mostly everyone here and that's not evil enough

10 months ago
icylancet - zen
11 months ago
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.
It's Never The Last Time.

it's never the last time.

I was trying to justify to myself having Leona know how to use a waffle maker, and. well. sometimes you just gotta go where the flow takes you.

10 months ago
The Girls R Fighting I Hear
The Girls R Fighting I Hear

the girls r fighting i hear

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