Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword.

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.

These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story.

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

I once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing.

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

Don't worry about what your mother thinks of your language.