“Tone is the hardest part of saying no.”

“If you'd blush saying something in person, don't write it.”

“Start writing by thinking, not wrestling with words.”

“To write better you must develop your taste for truth. You have to pay more attention to what you really think, feel, see and want.”

“Guilt loves the passive.”

“Your language indicates──and limits──what you think.”

“Many Americans would die naked in the middle of the road before they'd tell you what's hurt them most. But a born Southerner will show you the cell in their heart that burns the hardest. They'll hold it out to you in their bare right hand.”