Silence

Perfect turn-taking is a myth. Real conversations don’t work like written dialogue usually looks: A: "I went to the store." B: "What did you buy?" A: "Milk and bread." Real conversations are messier: A: "I went to the store and—" B: "Did you get the milk?" A: "I was about to—yeah, I got—" B: "Because last time you forgot and—" A: "I got it! I got the milk." Real speech includes: Interruptions Overlapping dialogue Pauses and silence Trailing off Verbal stumbling And incorporating these patterns makes dialogue feel authentic. ...

The most powerful line in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is never spoken. Two people sit at a train station, discussing “it.” They never say what “it” is. But readers know: they’re talking about abortion. The entire story happens in what’s not said. That’s the power of silence in storytelling—the strategic omission that makes readers fill in gaps, lean forward, and participate in meaning-making. What Is Narrative Silence? Silence in storytelling isn’t the absence of words. It’s the deliberate withholding of information, explanation, or resolution. ...