camrogers | I defy you to...

I've never seen this mentioned as a dialogue tip anywhere, but it's something every screenwriter seems to adhere to.

I defy you to find an instance in any reasonably well-known production in which one character asks another character a question, and gets a straight answer.*

And you know why? Because straight answers are an expositorial cul-de-sac.

"How are you holding up?"
"Detective Chalmers wants a list of Lucy's friends."

"What's the weather like tomorrow?"
"Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?"

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?"
"Stop whining and collect all the electrical tape you can find."

That kind of thing. The last example is probably the closest you'll find to something like

"How are you?"
"I'm fine."

... in 9 out of 10 cases, unless its purpose is to develop a sense of unease or whatever. Almost always it's:

"How are you?"
"Where were you last night?"

or

"How are you?"
"I found something interesting in your office."

Works like a charm, too.

*: I'm talking primarily in conversation-openers, subject-changers or stand-alones here. In a straight back-and-forth or interrogation scene the number of straight answers may rise (especially if the conversation is clipped), but only very slightly. Where possible it's almost always oblique answers.