“Do you drink?""Of course,I just said I was a writer.”

“But I think there are a set of experiences that turn a potential writer into a working writer, and then there are places in your life were you start to recognize what you want to do.”

“Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up. ”

“If you're just starting out as a writer, you could do worse than strip your television's electric plug-wire, wrap a spike around it, and then stick it back into the wall. See what blows, and how far. Just an idea.”

“When I bore you, just tell me to shut up, I won't be offended.''I like to listen,' Stu said.'Then you are one of God's chosen. Let's go.”

“I can't lie and say there are no bad writers. Sorry, but there are lots of bad writers.”

“All I ask is that you do as well as you can, and remember that, while to write adverbs is human, to write he said or she said is divine.”