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

Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe.

The best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind of writing you want to do.

Nobody told all the new e-mail writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they are writing with ease and enjoyment doesn't mean they are writing well.

You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment. Usually this means giving the reader an enjoyable surprise. Any number of devices will do the job.... These seeming amusements in fact become your 'style.' When we say we like the style of certain writers, what we mean is that we like their personality as they express it on paper.

Write about small, self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you remember them, it's because they contain a larger truth that your readers will recognize in their own lives. Think small and you'll wind up finding the big themes in your family saga.

Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style.