When I'm working on something, I proceed as if no one else will ever read it.

But I don't think people take bad advice. They've got intuition too, you know. In fact I'd be surprised if they take any advice at all.

It seems to me that good novels celebrate the mystery in ordinary life, and summing it all up in psychological terms strips the mystery away

I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely.

Not until the final draft do I force myself to remember that I'm going to have to think about how it will affect other people.

But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.

I'm too shy for personal appearances, and I've found out that anytime I talk about my writing, I can't do any writing for many weeks afterward.