“We are all writers from an early age. Most of what we write is nonfiction—essays for school, letters to friends, memoranda to colleagues—in which we are trying to pass on information. We are raised with a traditional nonfiction mind-set. Even… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
Readers take in dialogue one thought at a time. A frequent mistake of beginners is to combine thoughts, which may be suitable for other… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
To create tension, dialogue needs to be stretched out. That is, characters should not be immediately responsive. — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
The biggest difference between a writer and a would-be writer is their attitude toward rewriting. . . . Unwillingness to revise usually signals an amateur. — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
“It can be said that one slip of point of view by a writer can hurt a story badly, and several slips can be… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
Most of the time, tough, combative, adversarial dialogue is much more exciting than physical action. — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
“The novelist is like the conductor of an orchestra, his back to the audience, his face invisible, summoning the experience of music for the… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
Dialogue, contrary to popular view, is not a recording of actual speech; it is a semblance of speech, an invented language of exchanges that… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
I see manuscripts and books that are spoiled for the literary reader because they are one long stream of top-of-the-head writing, a writer telling… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
In our not-yet-acknowledged secret garden lie the seeds of some of our best not-yet-written stories — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
Our instinct as human beings is to provide answers, to ease tension. As writers our job is the opposite, to create tension and not… — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
A reader's emotions can be sparked with few words. That's the power of dialogue. — Sol Stein Copy Share Image
