Nobody ever stopped reading E. B. White or V. S. Pritchett because the writing was too good.

Also bear in mind, when you're choosing your words and stringing them together, how they sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes. But in fact they hear what they are reading far more than you realize.

There's no subject you don't have permission to write about. Students often avoid subjects close to their heart ... because they assume that their teachers will regard those topics as 'stupid.' No area of life is stupid to someone who takes it seriously. If you follow your affections you will write well and will engage your readers.

If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.

There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you.

You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: what does the reader need to know next?

Editors are licensed to be curious.