the unconscious of an artist is her greatest treasure. It is what transmutes the dross of autobiography into the gold of myth.

Blocks usually stem from fear of being judged. If you imagine the world is listening, you'll never write a line.

I know so many women in their fifties, sixties and seventies who delight in being on their own. It's amazing. They don't see any stigma attached to it. We don't need a man to prove our identity anymore.

Anger is really disappointed hope.

Nothing quite has reality for me till I write it all down--revising and embellishing as I go. I'm always waiting for things to be over so I can get home and commit them to paper.

The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.

Writing has often been accompanied by terror, silences, and then wild bursts of private laughter that suddenly make all the dread seem worthwhile.