I cannot be a character in a bad movie. I can't be.

We rarely know where we are going; writing is a discovery.

No matter our talent, we all know in the midnight of our souls that 90 percent of what we do is less than our best.

Good story' means something worth telling that the world wants to hear. Finding this is your lonely task...But the love of a good story, of terrific characters and a world driven by your passion, courage, and creative gifts is still not enough. Your goal must be a good story well told.

The material of literary talent is words; the material of story talent is life itself.

A culture cannot evolve without honest, powerful storytelling. When a society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out, pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need true satires and tragedies, dramas and comedies that shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society.

Stories are the currency of human relationships.