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

I left advertising as fast as I could in 1961. And I haven't ever thought about going back.

I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words.

I focus on characters as individuals with attitudes and write each scene from a particular character's point of view. That way, even narrative passages take on the character's sound. I don't want the reader to be aware of me, writing.

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

I never see my bad guys as simply bad. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy.

It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing.