Explain How Subtext Works in Dialogue

Subtext is not the same as mystery or withholding. It is the gap between what a character says and what they mean, visible to the reader even when no character names it. This explains the mechanism, shows the difference between genuine subtext and information-withholding, gives a brief before-and-after example of the same scene, and offers one exercise for building the skill without writing a full scene.

Explain subtext in dialogue for a writer who understands the concept but cannot yet produce it reliably.

Cover:
1. The basic mechanism: what makes a line of dialogue carry a meaning beyond its literal content
2. The difference between subtext and simply withholding information (which is not the same thing)
3. Why characters almost never say what they mean in scenes with high stakes, and what they say instead
4. A before-and-after example: the same scene once with on-the-nose dialogue and once with subtext, briefly annotated
5. One exercise for practising subtext that does not require writing a full scene

Under 350 words.