Writing is hard work.

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.

The game is won or lost on hundreds of small details.

Editors are licensed to be curious.

Probably every subject is interesting if an avenue into it can be found that has humanity and that an ordinary person can follow.

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.

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