Expressive dialogue can either make your story sing like an angelic choir or fall flat like a deflated balloon at a surprise party nobody wanted.
And here’s the thing about expressive dialogue, they don’t teach you this in those grammar-heavy writing courses. And I would know, I double majored in English and Classics at University of Toronto. Of course the professors teach you what it is, but it’s not something they focus on. Most writers focus on what their characters are saying, but the power is often in what they’re not saying. In between the lines, in the tension behind the words, in the trembling fingers or the slammed cupboard door—that’s where your reader truly connects. You want your book to play out like a scene in your reader’s head, consider that 90% of communication is non-verbal and you’ll quickly become an expressive writer.
So today, I’m giving you the 7 ways to write expressive dialogue without your characters spelling it all out like a Sunday school lesson. We’re going deeper. We’re going to dig deep and start writing scenes your readers wished were movies.
And if you’re new to this, don’t sweat it. No one starts out writing award-winning dialogue on their first draft. (If they say they do, they’re lying or just not telling you the whole truth. Give yourself grace. Growth lives in the rewrites. One day you’ll be giving this advice to someone else. Promise.
Let’s start writing books worthy of a screen play.
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Expressive Dialogue Tip 1. Let Their Hands Speak
Body language doesn’t lie—but your characters might.
The hands are traitors to the tongue. And most people have majority of their ‘tells’ in their hand movements alone. Your character may be saying one thing, but their hands? They’re out here testifying the truth.
“Of course I trust you,” he said, his fingers tightening around the glass until it cracked.
You don’t need to come out and have your characters calling each other names. You didn’t need to say he was lying through his teeth—the glass did that for you.
When do you use this type of expressive dialogue? You should use this when your character is suppressing emotion, lying, or barely keeping it together.
Try not to over think it. Keep gestures specific and intentional. Instead of “she fidgeted,” go with “she twisted her wedding ring until it left a red mark.”
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Expressing Body Language in Fiction Writing.
Expressive Dialogue Tip 2. Echo Their Tone with Action
Let the body and the voice work together—or clash intentionally.
This is how you anchor emotional intensity. If your dialogue is whispered, screamed, or sarcastically spat out, match it with physical cues that reflect or subvert it.
“Say it again,” she whispered, but her nails were already digging into her palm.
This line doesn’t just tell us she’s tense—it lets us feel it in our own skin.
Use This Expressive Dialogue When: You want to create suspense, edge, or when tone matters more than content.
Quick Tip: Match the character’s tone with either their breath, posture, or tension points (jaw, hands, shoulders).
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Expressive Dialogue Tip 3. Include Contradictory Emotion
What they say vs. what they show = delicious tension.
Contradictions are juicy (maybe not in real life, but reading them, much needed). People do it all the time. “I’m fine.” “I’m happy for you.” “I don’t care.” Lies. Beautiful, fragile lies they tell. Layering what’s said with what’s shown creates authentic, soul-deep characters.
“I’m so happy for you,” he said with a smile too wide and eyes that didn’t quite match. I don’t even think he believed it.
The disconnect makes readers lean in. They don’t trust this character, and they probably shouldn’t. That’s intentional. You want your readers to love, like, and absolutely dislike a character. Let’s be real, we all roll our eyes when a certain character steps into the scene.
Use This Expressive Dialogue When: You want to show internal conflict, bitterness, jealousy, or grief masked as joy.
Quick Tip: A character’s words should never always match their feelings. We’re complex. Your characters should be too.
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Expressive Dialogue Tip 4. Use the Environment
Allow their world to be a character in itself. Let it their surroundings speak too.
Your characters don’t exist in a vacuum. Unless you have them living in a huge bubble, and even then, the bubble is the environment. How they interact with their surroundings says just as much as what comes out of their mouths. When used well, the environment becomes emotional shorthand.
“I didn’t mean to,” she muttered, tracing shapes in the spilled coffee on the table.
She’s not just avoiding cleaning the mess. She’s spiraling. She’s dissociating. That coffee stain is doing more emotional labor than a therapy session. These are the non-verbal cues we notice in real life that need to be included on paper.
You’ll want to use this expressive dialogue when your character is avoiding eye contact, suppressing emotion, or struggling with reality.
Helpful tip: Weather, lighting, objects in the room—use them to mirror or contrast your character’s emotional state.
Expressive Dialogue Tip 5. Show Speech Breaking Down
When words fail, emotion speaks.
Dialogue isn’t always clean. If it is, you’re probably not close enough to the character’s emotional truth. Interruptions, stumbles, repetition—they all scream vulnerability or internal war. People don’t often speak perfect grammar, not even i do and i studies English and teach it. ‘Proper English’ is often boring and not expressive enough… especially in novels.
“If you would just—if you’d let me explain, I—dammit, just listen for once in your life!”
See that? He’s not angry because he wants to yell. He’s yelling because he can’t make you hear him any other way.
This dialogue is perfect when conflict hits its peak. When emotions are overwhelming. Or it could be through desperation.
Helpful Tip: Read your dialogue aloud. If it sounds too polished for the moment, it probably is.
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Expressive Dialogue Tip 6. Anchor Emotion to Clothing or Objects
Sometimes, the story is all in the details.
Your character’s hands keep returning to their scarf. They’re smoothing the same corner of the napkin. Repeating a ritual that they may not even be aware their doing. Why? Because they’re not okay.
“It’s nothing,” she said, picking invisible lint from her sweater sleeve for the third time. If she picks at it any more, she’s going to need two knitting needles.
That lint isn’t lint. It’s a crutch. A comfort. A distraction. We all do it—your characters should too.
The best time to use an expressive dialogue similar to this is when Your character is anxious, avoiding emotion, or trying to self-soothe.
Helpful Tip: Choose one item your character always has with them, and let it hold meaning. And while they’re anxiously distracted with their own thought storm, have the character slowly dismantle the item.
Expressive Dialogue Tip 7. Let Silence Speak Loudest
The absence of words is often the loudest sound on the page. It’s when people’s brains and thoughts start working overtime trying to fill in the gap. Majority of people are not comfortable with silence.
This one’s a powerhouse. You don’t always need a punchline. Sometimes, the pause is the punch.
He looked at her for a long moment before saying, “Okay.” Then he turned, picked up his keys, and left without another word.
What’s unsaid here? Everything. Love. Regret. Goodbye. Forgiveness. Or maybe the lack there of.
This is great to use when You want the reader to feel the weight of what wasn’t said.
Helpful Tip: Don’t fear white space. Let the silence breathe. Don’t feel pressure to need to fill up every space available.
Let’s Wrap This Blog Up So You Can Get Back To Writing
Here’s the truth, My Bestie Writer: readers don’t remember perfect grammar, especially in fiction novels. People do not speak in perfect grammar. That’s the honest truth. Every accent has their own phonetics. Readers remember how your story made them feel. Expressive dialogue builds emotional bridges between your characters and your reader. It creates intimacy. Trust. Tension. And unforgettable scenes. Expressions are what makes people remember.
If your dialogue is always direct and right-on-the-nose, you’re robbing your story of its depth. Real people aren’t that simple. Majority of real people believe they’re more complicated than they actually are and they low-key love reading of someone that is exactly like them. Normal people are not boring and neither should your characters be
And hey—if you’re reading this thinking, “Oh no. I haven’t done any of this,” take a deep breath. That just means you’re ready to grow.
Writing is a journey, not a checklist. You’re not behind—you’re becoming. One well-placed pause, one shaky hand, one line of dialogue that lands like a gut punch… That’s all it takes to change the whole scene.
So take what you need. Practice it. Revisit old chapters. Experiment with new ones. Trust me—you’re not “too new” or “too late.” You’re right on time.
Want More Help with Dialogue, Characters, and Emotional Depth?
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If you made it all the way here and are still interested in learning how to become an even better writer, check out our next blog 15 Mistakes That Will Ruin Your First Chapter (and How to Make Sure Readers Keep Going)
Stay faithful, stay quirky, and stay writing.
With love and fire,
V.S. Beals
Writer. Watchwoman. Woman of the Word.
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