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

Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person.

When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit.

Readers must be given room to bring their own emotions to a piece so crammed with emotional content; the writer must tenaciously resist explaining why the material is so moving.

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

Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be tired. Be confused. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident.

People read with their ears, whether they know it or not.