The manuscript you submit [should not] contain any flaws that you can identify - it is up to the writer to do the work, rather than counting on some stranger in Manhattan to do it for him.

Problem was that we could make things worse but we couldn't make anything better.

Writing seems like the only job where what you think and feel really matters.

The manuscript you submit [should not] contain any flaws that you can identify - it is up to the writer to do the work, rather than counting on some stranger in Manhattan to do it for him.

Aggressiveness is good in a combat leader. Combining that with ambition and insecurity becomes more problematic.

Morally repugnant and tactically stupid are a lousy combination.

Writing is akin to method acting. Before the writer can render a fully convincing world, he or she must inhabit that world, and every major character who lives there. I'm not suggesting that one always has to go this far. But I truly believe what makes the setting for my novels come alive is that I've lived there first.