We don't always know what makes us happy. We know, instead, what we think SHOULD. We are baffled and confused when our attempts at happiness fail.

I started writing morning pages just to keep my hand in, you know, just because I was a writer and I didn't know what else to do but write. And then one day as I was writing, a character came sort of strolling in and I realized, Oh my God, I don't have to be just a screenwriter. I can write novels.

What would a nontoxic god think of your creative goals? Might such a god really exist?

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do.

We have this idea that we need to be in the mood to write. We don't.

As an experienced artist, I carry my work like a secret pregnancy. I am always aware of inner life and the need to protect it.

Try approving of yourself just as you are, and spoiling yourself rotten with small kid's pleasures.