Most of our lives are not spent in life-and-death struggles, epic moments of triumph or defeat, but in talking to or with others. Because it’s so routine and normal, we overlook the power such moments have. Every approval or refusal, each acceptance or rejection, closed off an opportunity or made another available.

Big decisions often need agreement, or at the least, a blessing, and denial shapes us just as surely as consent. We played our part. We spoke. We asked. We persuaded, or we didn’t. We inspired, or we did not. We impressed or were rejected. It is the consequences of all the yes’s and the no’s and the thousands of our dialogues that have determined the paths our lives have taken.

Dialogue is action. Don’t ever think it isn’t. Those who succeed talk, and talk well. Those who don’t, don’t.

Is it really that simple? Looking back, it could very well be. It’s why I write my novels the way I do—with dialogues as action.