We all know that it’s not always what you say, but what you don’t say that can matter most.

In this case it’s what you don’t write that reigns paramount.  While this isn’t always a nicety when it comes to communication, most intelligent folk understand that what you leave out has merit, sometimes more than what you divulge.  Like a dishonest narrator, when a scene is written with this “reading between the lines” in play, the writer has to be careful what to write, finagling it all just so to give enough leading information without ending up tactless and blunt.  Imagine you’re Indiana Jones stepping on those clay markers stamped with letters as he tries to get to the Holy Grail.  One wrong move and you’ll end up in the bottomless chasm of writing failure where you will spend the rest of your years in a constant free-fall, wondering how it all went so terribly rotten.

But enough melodrama…on to the writing!

Writing Prompt #12 – Reading Between The Lines

Dear writer, let’s calm ourselves after the threat of a perilous slip into an infinite drink.  Breathe deep.  When you’re good to go, come up with an uncomfortable topic: drug use, abuse of the elderly, unsatisfying sex.  Get that concept firmly in your mind.  Once there, you need to come up with two characters.  Don’t worry about giving them layers and depth outside of their ability to communicate.  We aren’t looking for physical attributes here.  Instead, we’re looking for keen dialogue.  Your task is to set these two people in conversation.  They each have involvement in the uncomfortable topic you’ve chosen, perhaps taking different sides, perhaps agreeing with one another but dancing around any outwardly bold statements.  Craft dialogue between these two people where you hint at what might be going on, using their words, gestures and body language, drastic actions that don’t involve the things that come out of their mouths.  Let them talk about what they don’t want to talk about.  Let their dialogue reveal what the true topic of discussion is.  Lead a potential reader through their discussion, taking him through confusion about what is happening, give the reader an inkling as to what’s up, and finally letting him get it all with a punchy, pointed revelatory statement from one or both of the characters at the end.

Here, to help you get through today’s prompt, is the most literal picture of a prompt title I have even taken of myself.