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.

To defend what you've written is a sign that you are alive.

You learn to write by writing.

Be wary of security as a goal. It may often look like life's best prize. Usually it's not.

Not every oak has to be gnarled, every detective hard-bitten. The adjective that exists solely as a decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and an obstacle for the reader.

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

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.