Position yourself to succeed by doing the other things in your life that rejuvenate you. You can create little islands of time away from your novel that will help preserve your balance. Exhaustion will affect both your writing’s quality and your productivity.

You could know the what of something forever and never discover the why.

What occurs after revelation and paralysis?

Film fixes a precise visual image in the viewer's head. In fiction, you just hope you're precise enough to convey the intended effect.

So many differing opinions and philosophies... are rarely housed under the roof of a single magazine.

I see music as an aid. It overcomes my internal editor, especially when the music evokes the character or the mood I'm trying to build.

I have always tended toward a lush prose style, but I take care to modulate it from story to story and to strip it down entirely when necessary.