A novelist writes a novel, and people read it. But reading is a solitary act. While it may elicit a varied and personal response, the communal nature of the audience is like having five hundred people read your novel and respond to it at the same time. I find that thrilling.

Your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel.

I'm a black American playwright. I couldn't be anything else. I make my art out of black American culture; they're all cut out of the same cloth. That's who I am; that's who I write about.

I cried a river of tears but he was too heavy to float on them. So I dragged him with me these years across an ocean.

I found out life's hard but it ain't impossible.

Style ain't nothing but keeping the same idea from beginning to end. Everybody got it.

Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.