The beauty of word processing, God bless my word processor, is that it keeps the plotting very fluid. The prose becomes like a liquid that you can manipulate at will. In the old days, when I typed, every piece of typing paper was like cast in concrete.

Writing is self-taught. Consulting other people only teaches you to depend on their reactions, which may or may not be legitimate. Quit looking for approval ... Learn to evaluate your own work with a dispassionate eye ... the lessons you acquire will be all the more valuable because you've mastered your craft from within.

Emotion doesn't travel in a straight line. Like water, our feelings trickle down through cracks and crevices, seeking out the little pockets of neediness and neglect, the hairline fractures in our character usually hidden from public view.

Sometimes I claim I write because I put in an application at Sears and they've never called back.

Thinking is hard work, which is why you don't see many people doing it.

Having reached the halfway mark in the alphabet, my prime focus is on writing each new book as well as I can.

Writing isn't about the destination-writing is the journey that transforms the soul and gives meaning to all else.