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

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

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

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

Our instinct as human beings is to provide answers, to ease tension. As writers our job is the opposite, to create tension and not dispel it immediately.

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

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

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

Dialogue is a lean language in which every word counts.

A writer writes what other people only think.

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.

Art is good, but happiness is better.

We shall conquer every mountain in Jesus name Amen!

It'll make you look rugged, ' Mel says.'Because I woke up this morning, ' I say, 'and the one thing I realized I lacked was ruggedness.

I do get massively distracted when I've got someone in my life, which I can't afford to do right now...besides, no one treats me as well as I do.

How sad if we pass through life and never see it with the eyes of a child.

The church must constantly promote dialogue.

This is terrible, when a writer is bored by his own work, but it was a real bomb and had reached the point where I couldn't even stand to look at it any more.

I think it's very important to know what you want to do next versus just leave it up to chance, really position yourself in the right footings to get to where you want to be.

The peace movement here is the biggest thing in human history.

There's always a way - if you're committed.