I craft everything in the beginning. I know where the characters are going before I start writing the book.

You can't say, "I'm too busy writing to be political." You are one person.

Praise and criticism seem to me to operate exactly on the same level. If you get a great review, it's really thrilling for about ten minutes. If you get a bad review, it's really crushing for ten minutes. Either way, you go on.

You see an absolutely brilliant film later, as an adult, and you walk out thinking about what to have for dinner. Whereas something like Jaws winds up having a huge effect on me. If only my parents had been taking me to Kurosawa films when I was eight, but no.

The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living.

I will write my way into another life.

You can’t control what other people think about your art. Think about the part of yourself that you can control, which is your ability to be kind and loving and creative.