How to harvest explanations straight from dialogue

Cuppa: A hand-poured cup of the best ideas about writing I've tasted lately

Hey, y’all—

Ever wonder what your characters are thinking about during a scene? The answer is often already in front of you: It’s in the dialogue. Whatever the character is talking about is also certainly what they’re thinking about—all the background info, and the ramifications, and the what-ifs, and the hopes and fears and plans.

Here’s where you might …