I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.

You should think about your character. Know where you are changing, how you will be changed, what cannot be changed back again.

I'd like to be more forgiving. There are times when I've had a hard time forgiving people who have betrayed me.

There's no hope. There's no reason to keep trying. Because you must. This is not hope. Not reason. This is your fate. This is your life, what you must do.

After all, Bao Bomu says, what is the past but what we choose to remember?

In [writing] fiction, every sentence is its own reward.

I felt foolish and tired, as if I had been running to escape someone chasing me, only to look behind to discover there was no one there.