I still do believe that form and content are very much related. I think throwing away some of the rule books on that is a good thing.

I'm interested in reality but I'm not interested in realism at all. I'm interested in the ways that I think people want to relate.

Conversation on the page should reflect what the story is about. It doesn't have to be "realistic" in the sense that it's something you heard and plugged into a story.

It's not the writer who determines how good she is anyway. Writers don't determine that. It's readers who determine that.

I think the slowness of exchange is over, and the idea of waiting for a response - that's gone. People don't want to wait. It's all this instantaneity. That's fine. But it also makes writing different, if you're writing for an instant exchange compared with being able to have time for more reflection.

[Reality] isn't simply the so-called world that you're in. Your reality is a much larger one that takes in all matter of identification and desires and hopes.

I think many writers really believe that being published is a traumatic experience.