Great storytelling is like great music—it’s all about rhythm, balance, and harmony. In fiction, the balance between dialogue and action is one of the most critical aspects of your pacing, character development, and reader engagement. Too much dialogue, and the story can feel like a script with talking heads. Too much action, and readers may struggle to emotionally connect or understand motivation. So how do you strike that perfect balance? Let’s break it down.

Today on Tony Tips Tuesdays™, I want to talk about something near and dear to every writer’s heart: the art of crafting unforgettable characters. Whether you’re building brave superheroes like Kevin Edwards and Juanita Grayson in my novel series S.O.L.A.D.™, a small-town journalist navigating love, or a multi-dimensional villain whose actions send ripples through the story, character is everything. Plot drives the engine, sure—but your characters are the gas, the spark, an