Dialogue, contrary to popular view, is not a recording of actual speech; it is a semblance of speech, an invented language of exchanges that build in tempo or content toward climaxes.

In our not-yet-acknowledged secret garden lie the seeds of some of our best not-yet-written stories

A lawyer's job is to manipulate the skeletons in other people's closets.

Readers, transformed by film and TV, are used to seeing stories. The reading experience . . . is increasingly visual.

The expert magician seeks to deceive the mind, rather than the eye.

A writer writes what other people only think.

To create tension, dialogue needs to be stretched out. That is, characters should not be immediately responsive.