I write any sort of rubbish which will cover the main outlines of the story, then I can begin to see it.

It's easier to bleed than sweat, Mr. Motes.

The only way, I think, to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then try to discover what you have done.

Even a child with normal feet was in love with the world after he had got a new pair of shoes.

Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.

I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. I have also found that what I write is read by an audience which puts little stock either in grace or the devil. You discover your audience at the same time and in the same way that you discover your subject, but it is an added blow.

He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery.