People tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does. That is one last thing to remember. Writers are always selling somebody out.

We imagine things — that we wouldn't be able to survive, but in fact, we do survive. ... We have no choice, so we do it.

What makes Iago evil? Some people ask. I never ask.

I know what the fear is. The fear is not for what is lost. What is lost is already in the wall. What is lost is already behind the locked doors. The fear is for what is still to be lost.

Why do you always have to be right. Why do you always have to have the last word. For once in your life just let it go.

Details are our business as writers. Your heart leaps when you see a detail that can go somewhere

If you aren't aware of the reader, you're working in a vacuum.