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.

One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material.

Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost.

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.

Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.

Writing is hard work.

Avoid the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver - words like "enthralling" and "luminous."