You can't deny laughter. When it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants. — Stephen King. American author (born 1947)
Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it's work. … Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.
When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.
Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.