As a writer you can and should expect to hear conflicting responses to your story.

I was always writing. I just didn't know if I was any good.

The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right, but to get it written.

I think I've learned to be mindful. I may not have taken the time to try to understand narrative techniques, let's say, with any rigor, if I did not also have to try to explain those techniques to someone else.

Every person in therapy has a love disorder.

There were the fairy tales my father told to me at bedtime. All the standards. I thought my father invented wolves.

In revision, your imagination becomes deeply engaged with your material. It's when you come to know your characters and begin to perceive their motivations and values.