The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting.

The dream didn't fade as dreams usually do upon waking.

Pain is the biggest power of love.

And that almost killed you?" "It wasn't deep but it got infected. Infection means that the bad germs got into it. Infection's the most dangerous thing there is, Tom. Infection was what made the superflu germ kill all the people. And infection is what made people want to make the germ in the first place. An infection of the mind.

All you imagined, no matter how wild it might seem, was no more than a disguised version of what you already knew.

...stupidity is one of the two things we see most clearly in retrospect. The other is missed chances.

Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. If not so, why do so many couples who start the evening at dinner wind up in bed?