Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.

Writing... is an act of faith: I believe it's also an act of hope, the hope that things can get better than they are.

Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.

Men are not to be told anything they might find too painful; the secret depths of human nature, the sordid physicalities, might overwhelm or damage them. For instance, men often faint at the sight of their own blood, to which they are not accustomed. For this reason you should never stand behind one in the line at the Red Cross donor clinic.

Tell what is yours to tell. Let others tell what is theirs.

I'm interested in the Gothic novel because it's very much a woman's form. Why is there such a wide readership for books that essentially say, 'Your husband is trying to kill you'?

You might 'write from the heart,' but you'd better polish with your brain.