You have to write fiction that mirrors the actual world, which has people of all sorts in it.

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

Being part of a community of writers is huge. I really think that's why people go to MFA programs.

Maybe we're stuck with who we are.

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.

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

I love it when people can help me with my work, so I do show it.