To be true to life, a novel must have an ending that is inevitable given the specific personalities of the characters involved. The novelist must not impose an ending upon them.
Joyce Carol OatesDon't try to anticipate an ideal reader - or any reader. He/she might exist - but is reading someone else.
Joyce Carol OatesAs soon as I moved to Princeton in 1978, I became fascinated by local history, much of it Revolutionary War-era; and I became fascinated by the presidency of Woodrow Wilson at Princeton University.
Joyce Carol Oates