I am free to write the worst junk in the world.

Shut up and write. Don't talk about writing, just physically do it.

Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with writing, you think you should come out fresh the first time.

The only failure in writing is when you stop doing it. Then you fail yourself.

I love and care about literature, and great writers are our teachers. You're studying their mind when you read their work.

Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world. Take that aching and use it to propel you deeper into your need for expression - to speak, to say who you are.

I told all kinds of stories about going to Japan, about playing ball with my father... I wanted to record my life in case it was going to end soon. So, I wrote that and it was very comforting to have that practice in the afternoons in my living room. I just wrote about my life.