What I use from my own life is not the facts, it's the emotion. It's how I felt about something. It has nothing to do with facts at all. You can get those anywhere. It's the feelings of childhood that you need to know.

In the end, the difference between a published writer and an unpublished one comes down to one thing: The unpublished writer gave up, and the published writer didn't.

many writers believe in arrival without leaving home. They believe in talent but not skill.

Only the unique is universal.

Writing is something warm and dependable to snuggle up to when everything else is in flux. It's a little secret that you carry with you in public - the knowledge that you alone have the ability to escape to a wonderland where you can make anything happen.

What I use from my own life is not the facts, it's the emotion. It's how I felt about something. It has nothing to do with facts at all. You can get those anywhere. It's the feelings of childhood that you need to know.

It is easy to write when you don't know how.