Nobody Is Ordinary If You Know Where

Always Write As If You Are Talking To Someone. It Works. Don't Put On Any Fancy Phrases Or Accents Or Things You Wouldn't Say In Real Life.

I Once Got A Huge, Expensive Flower Arrangement From A Person I Didn't Like, Who Sent It Out Of Pure Guilt. It Had A Hideous Bird-of-paradise In The Middle, And I Thought It Would Never Fade And Die. I Hated It.

An English Journalist Called Michael Viney Told Me When I Was 25, That I Would Write Well If I Cared A Lot What I Was Writing About. That Worked. I Went Home That Day And Wrote About Parents Not Understanding Their Children As Well As We Teachers Did, And It Was Published The Very Next Week.

Because I Saw My Parents Relaxing In Armchairs And Reading And Liking It, I Thought It Was A Peaceful Grown-up Thing To Do, And I Still Think That.

If You Write What You Know About, You Will Always Be On Safe Ground. I Am Very Edgy And Nervous About Going Into Territories I Know Nothing About. That's Why You Don't Find Much High Finance, Group Sex, Or Yachting Parties In My Stories.