- Say the opposite to make verbal irony

"That's the smartest thing I've heard all day" in response to the least
intelligent thing the person has heard.
- Dance around the subject but don't use beating around the bush as a way to
show character and also to not waste a sentence
- avoid "spill the beans" dialogue.
- avoid " "Let me tell you what I'm thinking/feeling." Or "Talking about it rather than
doing it. This is the worst kind of exposition. It's *telling us* rather than *showing
us*. The solution to this kind of exposition is to plan ahead. Set up the story
elements *before* they happen rather than *after* they happen. Reason for this is
the lack of conflict and drama. The big problem is that the character ends up telling
us what has already happened instead of just allowing is to experience what
happened while it was happening. We end up with a past tense movie
where the drama has already happened (offscreen) and we are left with one
character telling another what happened. No drama there - the conflict is already
dead. Movies tell stories through the actions of characters and dramatic dialogue
(with a conflict). Don't tell us what has happened, show us while it is happening.

- The characters aren't supposed to know that the audience is out there!
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