The 'No' Game in Dialogue: Characters Who Never Say Yes Directly
Watch any great dialogue scene and you’ll notice something: characters almost never directly agree with each other. Even when they’re on the same side, even when they ultimately want the same thing, they resist, deflect, challenge, or qualify. This is called “The No Game”—and it’s one of the simplest, most powerful techniques for creating dynamic dialogue. What Is the “No” Game? The principle: Characters instinctively resist what other characters say, even in small ways. ...