Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said' . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange.

Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.

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

A man can be in two different places and he will be two different men. Maybe if you think of more places he will be more men, but two is enough for now.

I don't have any of the modern stuff. I don't have e-mail. I don't have a computer!

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

I used to be able to write five pages a day, every day, no problem. Now a good day is five or four pages, and that's from 9:30 A.M. until 6 P.M.