Diving into tip #8: have a purpose for your dialogue. Don’t just toss it in because I said so. What’s said needs to be valuable. It should contribute, move the story forward, reveal, or describe.

Now, onto #9: keep your dialogue snappy. Create a good back-and-forth dance between characters and avoid monologues.

A good rule of thumb is to keep what one character’s speech to three sentences, but it’s not a commandment. Don’t let your dialogue drag.