Most good fiction also has a character the writer seems to know more deeply than anyone can actually be known in life, but a few unusual writers can make something great without that.

Alice Munro is a particular kind of short story writer in that she writes long, character-driven short stories.

I can't listen to music when I'm writing. I like music best in a car or on the train.

I'm not a big Woody Allen fan, but thought 'Husbands and Wives' was great.

I like it when someone gives me a new book of poetry by a poet I haven't read.

Research for fiction is a funny thing: you go looking for one piece of information, and find something altogether different.

If somebody says your story is only published because you look nice in the photo, that maybe spurs you on to write.