For me writing is a long, hard, painful process, but it is addictive, a pleasure that I seek out actively. My advice to young writers is this: Read a lot. Read to find out what past writers have done. Then write about what you know. Write about your school, your class, about your teachers, your family. That's what I did. Each writer must find his or her own kind of voice. Finally, you have to keep on writing.

Just because there's tarnish on the copper, doesn't mean there's not a shine beneath.

Sometimes it's easier to be as bad as they expect you to be.

I only knew that there was a certain rightness in life--the feeling you got when you did something the way you knew you should.

Kindness comes with no price.

For me writing is a long, hard, painful process, but it is addictive, a pleasure that I seek out actively. My advice to young writers is this: Read a lot. Read to find out what past writers have done. Then write about what you know. Write about your school, your class, about your teachers, your family. That's what I did. Each writer must find his or her own kind of voice. Finally, you have to keep on writing.

You can learn to change the world or go on being changed by it.