The great thing about being a writer is that you have a long, perhaps frighteningly long time in which to do your work.

The concentration of the elite athlete is akin perhaps to the concentration of the writer.

One of the most ephemeral and important things is atmosphere and tone and it's very hard to put your finger on what creates that.

I'm trying to get under people's skin in a way. I don't like films that go in one ear and out the other.

I always find it extremely hard to remember the act of beginning. I almost deliberately forget it.

It's dangerous to think too much about how a film will be received. Filmmaking is not a popularity contest. Some would disagree.

I've never forgotten what it's like to be in your early twenties, which is not a particularly easy time. You've left your family, you've left the strictures of high school, and you're trying to break free and form yourself but you have to support yourself as well. We don't really give enough credence to that time of life and to its troubles.