Indirect Dramatic Effect Remember that all fiction, and some non-fiction, requires drama to retain readers. Do not confuse dramatic effect with melodrama. Dramatic dialogue resembles a poker game or negotiation. In dramatic dialogue the speakers avoid being direct. Questions and statements are subtle, as they often are in reality.
People learn to be indirect as children.
Those who do not learn are considered tactless. Well-written dialogue mirrors this reality. Disguising a question as a statement is effective dialogue because it reveals the game being played. Coupling the dialogue with narrative reveals more. Good writers balance indirect statements with clues to their meanings.