Anything designed to be inoffensive isn't worth your time -- life itself is pretty offensive, ending as it does with death.

I earned my writing stripes with a large man's shoebox overflowing with rejection slips... more than 100 before I got my first, 'Yes, we want this,' accompanied by a check.

Writing is a puzzle you'll spend your lifetime unlocking. You will never know it all; you will never know enough. You can always be better, and figuring out how to be better is part of the thrill and joy of the job.

Don't talk about writing. Write. Don't show unfinished work to anyone. Don't show finished work to non-writers. Get your opinions, not from friends and family, but by sending your work out to editors. An endless stream of rejection slips means you need to learn more. So learn more.

If you don't accept responsibility for your own actions, then you are forever chained to a position of defense.

You must learn to face the fact, always, that you choose to do what you do, and that everything you do affects not only you but others.