Larry Niven Quotes on Writing
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I knew it long ago: I'm a compulsive teacher, but I can't teach. The godawful state of today's education system isn't what's stopping me. I lack at least two of the essential qualifications. I cannot 'suffer fools gladly.' The smartest of my pupils would get all my attention, and the rest would have to fend for themselves. And I can't handle being interrupted. Writing is the answer. Whatever I have to teach, my students will select themselves by buying the book. And nobody interrupts a printed page.
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3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't.
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4) It is a sin to waste the reader's time.
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5) If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exoticor genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.
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I don't run ahead of science. I follow as close as I can, and I peer over their shoulders while the scientists are watching their feet.
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You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.