We are each a concert reverberating with our whole lives and reflecting and amplifying the world around us.

When I wrote and got out of the way, writing did writing.” (p.90)

This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don't want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don't wait around for inspiration and a deep desire to run ... That's how writing is too ... One of the main aims in writing practice is to learn to trust your own mind and body; to grow patient and nonaggressive.

It used to be with chocolate. I would put chocolate in my studio and say, "You know, Nat, there's this chocolate you can have if you get over there." And usually if I got over there, I would start writing. Sometimes I need get out of the house and go to a café and write. Sometimes I'll write with other friends to get myself going. And sometimes I just say "Ok, Nat, enough. Go one hour. Keep your hand going." I'll do whatever it takes.

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

I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time at my real work.

The deepest secret in our heart of hearts is that we are writing because we love the world.