“As to advice to others wishing to become writers, the answer is simple; write. You have to be persistent in your self-criticism, develop an ear for dialogue and narrative and be willing to toss material that doesn’t work and start again. The real answer is to rewrite until you have honed your work to a fine edge. Do not try to sell material until in your honest opinion it looks and sounds as good as what is at the upper end of the marketplace already on sale in bookstores. Read others who are published, particularly for their strengths. If you’re trying to craft hard-edged on the sidewalk crime, read Elmore Leonard for his dialogue. Also read well-crafted screenplays, “Chinatown” and anything by Quinton Tarantino. What you will gain if you are good are glimmers of technique. It will also help perfect an ear for what is good and what is not. In the end it is much better both for your ego and for your prospects of being published, if you yourself reject the imperfections of that manuscript and rework them than to have the script rejected by an editor.”