An act of imagination is an act of self-acceptance.

Don't write with a pen. Ink tends to give the impression the words shouldn't be changed.

...an imagined town is at least as real as an actual town. If it isn't, you may be in the wrong business. Our words come from obsessions we must submit to, whatever the social cost. It can be hard. It can be worse forty years from now if you feel you could have done it and didn't. It is narcissistic, vain, egotistical, unrealistic, selfish, and hateful to assume emotional ownership of a town or a word. It is also essential.

To write a poem you must have a streak of arrogance-- not in real life I hope. In real life try to be nice. It will save you a hell of a lot of trouble and give you more time to write.

Don't write love poems when you're in love. Write them when you're not in love.

Scholars look for final truths they will never find. Creative writers concern themselves with possibilities that are always there to the receptive.

If you want to communicate, use the telephone