Try not to write the parts that people skip.

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

Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue... I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

After 58 years you'd think writing would get easier. It doesn't. If you're lucky, you become harder to please. That's all right, it's still a pleasure.

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.

To me, writing is the most fun. It's not always fun, but finally when you make it come out the way you want, it's then you can say, 'It's fun, boy.'

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.