“Write the ending first and then you'll know before the opening sentence that it's going to be a good book.”

“The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it keeps on opening. You may fall in. Sure, it's hard to get started; remember learning to use knife and fork? Dig in: you'll never reach bottom. It's not like it's the end of the world -- just the world as you think you know it.”

“Probably a good idea, let me know how it ends""I already know how it ends""You read the ending first?""I always read the ending before I commit to the whole book.""If you know how it ends, why read the book?""I don't read for the ending. I read for the story".”

“Writing is like everything else: the more you do it the better you get. Don't try to perfect as you go along, just get to the end of the damn thing. Accept imperfections. Get it finished and then you can go back. If you try to polish every sentence there's a chance you'll never get past the first chapter.”

“Before you can write a single sentence, you must first create an entire world to support it.”

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”