I began to see, again and again, stories that were first confusing and second where the emotional impact was muted because the big scene came before the explanation of what was going on. There was a reverse chronological order as well as a concealment of what exactly was going on. I think often that comes out of the fear of being boring, and sometimes I think it's just an attempt to seem clever.

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

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.

I had never written about what it's like to live the life of a writer, and I had never read a book that combined talking about the life of writing and how you can do it, how you can stand it, how you can emotionally manage it, with the choices that we all make on the page.

The main thing is to explain to yourself that everybody suffers.

In many cultures, women are sometimes literally kept from learning to read or from going to school.

I actually think it's sometimes easier for the control freaks to let loose.