As infants, our first victory comes in grasping some bit of the world, usually our mother's fingers. Later we discover that the world, and the things of the world, are grasping us, and have been all along.

Writing is like sex. The more you think about it, the harder it is to do. It's better not to think about it so much and just let it happen.

The first draft of a book—even a long one—should take no more than three months, the length of a season.

Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.

Don't let the door hitcha where the good Lord splitcha.

The story is the only thing that's important. Everything else will take care of itself. It's like what bowlers say. You hear writers talk about character or theme or mood or mode or tense or person. But bowlers say, if you make the spares, the strikes will take care of themselves. If you can tell a story, everything else becomes possible. But without story, nothing is possible, because nobody wants to hear about your sensitive characters if there's nothing happening in the story. And the same is true with mood. Story is the only thing that's important.