I get to a certain point, and I think in a novel it's about the third draft, when I want other eyes on it.

Telling someone to be confident in the abstract is not going to make it easier for the unconfident writer to actually get herself or himself to the point of being able to put in the upsetting stuff.

I heard a white writer say, 'Oh, I'd never put black people in my writing, I'm afraid I would offend someone by doing it wrong.' I can't bear that!

I don't think a white person can write accurately and convincingly about what black people experience of oppression.

Writers sometimes are paid a great deal of money, but much more frequently they're not paid or are paid only a little bit.

There's the belief that we can't be smart enough to write. And certainly censorship of women, too.

We're always inventing, even if we're making someone who's fairly close to ourselves.