Don't hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident. . . . Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader's trust. Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying. Don't diminish that belief. Don't be kind of bold. Be bold.

Keep your paragraphs short. Writing is visual - it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain.

Writing wasn't easy and wasn't fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.

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.

Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes.

I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that's not doing useful work. Then I go over it once more, reading it aloud, and am always amazed at how much clutter can still be cut.

Dare to tell the smallest of stories if you want to generate large emotions.