Ultimately, writing is about trusting your own mind. It is an act of discovery.

So writing is not just writing. It is also having a relationship with other writers. And don't be jealous, especially secretly. That's the worst kind. If someone writes something great, it's just more clarity in the world for all of us.

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

When you are not writing, you are a writer too. It doesn't leave you.

Have compassion for yourself when you write. There is no failure - just a big field to wander in.

It is simply that person's time. Ours will come in this lifetime or the next. No matter. Continue to practice.

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.