I could spend two years cross-legged on my floor and feel like I was working.

Our minds simply don't function in some sort of narrative chronology. I think that one of the great gifts of writing fiction is being able to think about that.

As writers, it is our job not only to imagine, but to witness.

I was doing a lot of yoga and learning to meditate, and I found that extremely helpful, and still do and hopefully always will.

Logic and faith don't occupy the same side.

If you write memoir, it can't be about blame or hurt; it has to be creative.

I'll have my students try to follow their minds during the course of a day, just to see the way their minds work, the way our minds hop from thing to thing to thing. The Internet mirrors that to such a degree you can actually see it. Show me your search history and I'll show you who you are.