I try to leave out the parts readers skip.

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

I won't read a book that starts with a description of the weather. I don't read books over 300 pages, though I'll make an exception for Don Delillo.

There are cities that get by on their good looks, offer climate and scenery, views of mountains or oceans, rockbound or with palm trees. And there are cities like Detroit that have to work for a living.

I started out of course with Hemingway when I learned how to write. Until I realized Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. He never has anything funny in his stories.

I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.

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