“Small disagreements add up to show characters’ differences (of opinion, desire, mood).”
–Writing tense dialogue: 5 ways to add arresting tension
To me, dialogue is the most fun part of writing fiction, but it is also the hardest part. It is a writer’s tool for creating humor, sub-text, suspense and surprise among many fictional elements. But using dialogue to create tension is the writer using a scalpel instead of a shovel.
Here are several way to create tension with dialogue.
Andrew M. Friday 