Still on the theme of creative spaces, or more particularly, how you can fashion spaces in stories which both you and the reader can use creatively, having glanced at characterisation yesterday, today's small and imperfectly formed thought concerns dialogue. What people say to one another can be incredibly potent, but what they don't say (and why) can be equally fascinating.
As a starting point, think of all the reasons you might not tell somebody that you love them:
- Because you are not sure how they will respond.
- Because, more specifically, you are fearful of rejection.
- Because to speak out would give them too much power over you.
- Because you feel unworthy.
- Because it would be inappropriate -- perhaps you are married to somebody else.
- Because you assume they already know (but perhaps they don't).
Even in this simple little list, some intriguing and potentially complex scenarios are emerging, so if you want to have a go at a writing exercise, why not try writing a piece that hinges on the significance of what is not said. It might lead you to examine all the different qualities that silence can have, or maybe you'll end up writing about regret, a major literary theme in its own right, but perhaps that's for another post...
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