I Spent Most Of My Dough On

Never Open A Book With Weather. There Are Exceptions. If You Happen To Be Barry Lopez, Who Has More Ways To Describe Ice And Snow Than An Eskimo, You Can Do All The Weather Reporting You Want.

Don't Go Into Great Detail Describing Places And Things, Unless You're ­margaret Atwood And Can Paint Scenes With Language. You Don't Want Descriptions That Bring The Action, The Flow Of The Story, To A Standstill.

I Don't Believe In Writer's Block Or Waiting For Inspiration. If You're A Writer, You Sit Down And Write.

Keep Your Exclamation Points Under Control. You Are Allowed No More Than Two Or Three Per 100,000 Words Of Prose.

Really, When I Write A Book I'm The Only One I Have To Please. That's The Beauty Of Writing A Book Instead Of A Screenplay.