“Show, don’t tell” is best understood as an information density problem. This may occur when a character’s words and actions overlap too much. By reducing how much information stays verbal, and partially offloading it to behavior, props, or reactions, you create more natural scenes, add suspense, and open space for character expression. The goal isn’t less dialogue, but lower information density per line.

Fluffy dialogue is when spoken lines stop carrying intent. Action-driven dialogue fixes this by starting with the character’s scene objective, choosing an action verb that serves that goal, and then writing a line (or replacing it with physical action) that performs the action. By thinking in action verbs (such as 'to dismiss', 'to challenge', 'to belittle' etc.) you create clear cause-and-effect between lines, trim filler words, and make dialogue actively move the scene forward rather than stalling it.

1. Use dialogue to perform the character’s narrative role

2. Use archetype as a baseline for your dialogue

3. Let justifications for their decisions establish how the character perceives the world

4. Use reactions in dialogue to reveal what the character values

5. Force their beliefs into spoken action during a dilemma

6. Embed character traits and quirks into the spoken line’s underlying action

7. Use vocabulary, not facts, to reveal character background

8. Make the spoken line behave like that mind would behave

1. Anchor dialogue to each character’s thematic contrast to the protagonist

2. Make the character’s unique voice behavioral, not stylistic

3. Use background and personality to shape vocabulary

4. Give each character their own phrasing and idiolect

5. Give your characters contradictory traits

6. Reveal contrast through scene pairings