Have a belief in yourself that is bigger than anyone's disbelief.

The impulse to write the poem, that impulse is a great dramatic impulse. But hell, anybody could write a play. I do know this: all writers are not dramatists. You may be a great writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're a dramatist. Very few people have done both.

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

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.

Freedom is heavy. You got to put your shoulder to freedom. Put your shoulder to it and hope your back holds up.

You get to the point where your demons, which are terrifying, get smaller and smaller and you get bigger and bigger.

I don't write for a particular audience.