When talented people write badly, it's generally for one of two reasons: Either they're blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove of they're driven by an emotion they must express. When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They're moved by a desire to touch the audience.

Secure writers don't sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity.

The Business story is designed to trigger the listener to take an effective action. If it doesn't, the story fails.

We rarely know where we are going; writing is a discovery.

If you can't play all the instruments in the orchestra of story, no matter what music may be in your imagination, you're condemned to hum the same old tune.

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

No matter our talent, we all know in the midnight of our souls that 90 percent of what we do is less than our best.