A reader's emotions can be sparked with few words. That's the power of dialogue.

Most of the time, tough, combative, adversarial dialogue is much more exciting than physical action.

Readers take in dialogue one thought at a time. A frequent mistake of beginners is to combine thoughts, which may be suitable for other forms of writing but not for dialogue. Another mistake is speechifying. Three sentences at a time is tops, yet many beginners write speeches that go on and on.

Dialogue is a lean language in which every word counts.

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

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

The biggest difference between a writer and a would-be writer is their attitude toward rewriting. . . . Unwillingness to revise usually signals an amateur.