I think a lot of what goes into writing can be taught - not mixing metaphors, etc.

When I'm trying a new form- trying to do something I'm not used to doing, which was true of the novel.

Like a tropical storm, I, too, may one day become ‘better organized.

I would recommend, definitely, developing a 'day job' that you like - don't expect to make money writing!

Samuel Johnson Is Indignant:that Scotland has so few trees.

I often pose questions to myself and want the answers. The questions may be psychological or emotional. Or they may involve botany or [...] physiology. [...] I am very curious about strangers I observe - as in a bus line. I am very attached to finding out answers.

To observe the world carefully, to write a lot and often, on a schedule if necessary, to use the dictionary a lot, to look up word origins, to analyze closely the work of writers you admire, to read not only contemporaries but writers of the past, to learn at least one foreign language, to live an interesting life outside of writing.