Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.
I realized the only thing I owed my audience was my own judgment and my own best effort.
I've always been the audience that I wanted to reach, so I write for myself.
The villain is always more entertaining because he has fewer limitations. The hero is bound by honor, by justice and by the law, sometimes.
I've never sat down and thought about the difference between plot and theme. To me, that's never been important.
I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past.