The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.

If writing seems hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do.

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

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.

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

A simple [writing] style is the result of very hard work.

Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it's where the game is won or lost. The idea is hard to accept. We all have emotional equity in our first draft; we can't believe that it wasn't born perfect. But the odds are close to 100 percent that it wasn't.