People were as they were, not not as he wished them to be.

I'm a social caterpillar. I am not a social butterfly

A horsefly can't do a horse much real damage, but it can drive it wild anyhow.

You can write better about a place you've seen for yourself. You don't have to have been there - I've sure written about places I've never seen - but it does help.

I learned by reading an awful lot and by writing a half a million words of stuff nobody would do anything with except wrap old fish.

I do first draft in longhand, which saves a lot of rewriting. I try to get a certain amount done each day. Don't always, but I try. Then I clean up in the rewrites.

People you don't like are pigheaded. Your friends are stubborn, or hold to their purpose.