Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.

I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck.

A friend of mine who is in the publishing business knew I was writing a book, and he said, 'Have you said anything yet about the good guy? Because I know you spend so much time with the bad guys.' Because they're fun. So then you have to make the good guy fun, in order to compete. That's the challenge.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

I don't believe in writer's block. I don't know what that is. There are just certain little areas that I know I'm going to get through. It's just a matter of finding a way.