another word for talent is obsession.

Never think of revising as fixing something that is wrong. That starts you off in a negative frame of mind. Rather think of it as an opportunity to improve something you already love.

It is the nature of stories to leave out far more than they include.

Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of a hill. You must have all your skills under control from the first instant.

It is curious how believable I can be when I criticize myself, how unconvincing when I give myself praise.

Where do storytellers find the wisdom to discover their own stories? From no place more mysterious than their own hearts.

Description needs to slide into a story like a snake through grass - silently, almost invisibly, without calling attention to itself. It should enrich every story moment without slowing the action.

when you are dealing with art, any kind of art, your pleasure in making it is what matters most.

I was an adult before I began to learn that there is a difference between a conversation and an argument.

my experience as a fiction writer tells me that the deeper I look into myself, the more universal is the experience I find there.

Human beings are storytelling animals. That's what separates us from other creatures, not just having thumbs or using tools.

Just because Jimmy Swaggart believes in God doesn't mean that God does not exist.

Either you follow-up or you fold-up

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.

There are very few songs about just liking someone as a friend.

I think you can not be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

There are a lot of different things that are spinning and connecting when your family sees what you do.

I think that in the last four or five years I've constantly struggled with the balance in my life.

Staying busy keeps me away from being bored, which used to be a lot of my problem.

Feith had achieved the reputation in some military circles as 'the dumbest . . . guy on the planet.'

I figure it this way - if a woman claims she didn't want me to fudge her, then you already know she's a liar. So what the hell's the point of a trial, y'know?