The Law of Diminishing Returns is true of everything in life, except sex, which seems endlessly repeatable with effect.

Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.

The material of literary talent is words; the material of story talent is life itself.

Life is chaotic and meaningless, and you have to find your meaning. You must find the answer, you can't just live. That's the point of story: helping you find your meaning in life.

The Law of Diminishing Returns is true of everything in life, except sex, which seems endlessly repeatable with effect.

Of the total creative effort represented in a finished work, 75 percent or more of a writer's labor goes into designing the story designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart. Story demands both vivid imagination and powerful analytic thought.

When people want to sound smart, they add syllables to words, words to sentences, sentences to paragraphs, paragraphs to books. They try to make up in quantity and complexity what they lack in quality. That's bullshit! They're just hiding their bullshit!