Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation.

My commodity as a writer, whatever I'm writing about, is me. And your commodity is you. Don't alter your voice to fit the subject. Develop one voice that readers will recognize when they hear it on the page, a voice that's enjoyable not only in its musical line but in its avoidance of sounds that would cheapen its tone: breeziness and condescension and clichés.

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is.

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.

Writing and learning and thinking are the same process.

Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. Bach and Picasso didn't spring full-blown as Bach or Picasso; they needed models. This is especially true of writing.

I almost always urge people to write in the first person. ... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.