Writing is thinking on paper.

As a writer I try to operate within a framework of Christian principles, and the words that are important to me are religious words: witness, pilgrimage, intention.

Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish.

The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.

Writers are the custodians of memory, and that's what this chapter is about: how to leave some kind of record of your life and of the family you were born into.

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.

Writers must constantly ask: what I am trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don't know.