The Correct Unit Of Study Is Not

A Good Writer Gets Better Only By Learning To Cut, To Remove The Ornamental, The Descriptive, The Narrative, And Especially The Deeply Felt And Meaningful. What Remains? The Story Remains.

People Only Speak To Get Something. If I Say, Let Me Tell You A Few Things About Myself, Already Your Defenses Go Up; You Go, Look, I Wonder What He Wants From Me, Because No One Ever Speaks Except To Obtain An Objective. That's The Only Reason Anyone Ever Opens Their Mouth, Onstage Or Offstage. They May Use A Language That Seems Revealing, But If So, It's Just Coincidence, Because What They're Trying To Do Is Accomplish An Objective.

If You're Writing An Opinion Piece, It's Your Job To Write Your Opinion. If, On The Other Hand, You Wrote A Novel, As Virginia Woolf Tells Us, It Would Be Inappropriate If You Let Your Novel Be Influenced By Your Political Opinions.

I Was Fortunate Enough To Have A Rambling Youth.

There's Something In Me That Just Wants To Create Dialogue.