Bring your scenes to life, avoid flat dialogue and leave the talking heads to CNN

One of the most common problems in early drafts is dialogue that floats. The voices are sharp. The information matters. But the scene feels flat because the characters aren’t doing anything. They’re just heads in space, trading lines.

This is what novelist Elizabeth George famously warned writers about. Flat dialogue keeps your scenes from coming to life. Even when writers add the occasional beat — a sip of coffee, a shrug, a bit of pacing — the scene can still feel static. The dialogue works mechanically, but the moment doesn’t live.

Dialogue Needs an Anchor

Great dialogue scenes aren’t just about what’s said. They’re about what’s happening while it’s being said. Elizabeth George’s core point is simple: people never just talk. They talk while doing something, and that something shapes how the conversation unfolds.

When characters are physically engaged in an activity, several things happen at once:

• The scene feels grounded and visual

• Tension rises naturally through interruption and resistance

• Character is revealed through action, not explanation

• Subtext emerges without being spelled out

This is where a simple but powerful tool comes in.

The THAD: Talking Heads Avoidance Device

The THAD, short for Talking Heads Avoidance Device, is George's secret weapon. And one my editor recommended to me to help strengthen my scenes. A THAD is an ongoing activity inside a dialogue-heavy scene. It's a meaningful action that supports the scene's emotional and narrative purpose.

Think less:

• sipping coffee

• leaning back in a chair

• staring out a window

And more:

• repairing something that keeps breaking, like an old clock passed down through the generations.

• preparing food under time pressure, leading to mistakes that will come back during the meal.

• packing boxes because he or she is leaving after a breakup.

• searching for something that won’t be found, e.g. keys to their recently deceased relative's car.

The activity should do the hard work and will help bring flat dialogue to life. It also helps give the reader an action to observe whilst giving you the writer more depths to mine of character, plot and theme.

What a Good THAD Does

A strong THAD can:

• Prevent dialogue from floating

• Reveal character values, skills, or fears

• Reinforce theme or motif

• Add tension without adding more dialogue

• Mirror the emotional conflict of the scene

The key question isn’t “What can they do while they talk?”It’s “What action would make this scene sharper?”

Match the THAD to the Scene’s Purpose

Before choosing an activity, be clear on three things:

• What changes by the end of this scene?

• Where is the emotional pressure point?

• What does this moment need to reveal?

A quiet reconciliation scene calls for a different kind of action than a confrontation. Genre matters. Tone matters. A symbolic or slightly uncomfortable activity can deepen drama, or ruin it if it’s mismatched. Used well, the action becomes part of the storytelling, not a distraction from it.

Symbolic Actions Work Harder

Some of the most effective THADs echo the story's deeper concerns. If your novel has recurring themes like control, decay, care, inheritance, or freedom, look for actions that physically express those themes.

Readers may not consciously notice the symbolism, but they'll feel it. And it will help ground your scene in sensory detail and action.

TL;DR: Bring flat dialogue to life

As Elizabeth George reminds us, dialogue alone rarely carries a scene. Action doesn’t just break up talking; it reveals who your characters are under pressure.

Go through each scene and identify an activity the characters could be doing that has emotional or physical resonance to the scene or the overall book. Ask yourself:

What are my characters physically engaged in? Why this action, in this moment? And how does it tie back to the story I'm telling?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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