All you imagined, no matter how wild it might seem, was no more than a disguised version of what you already knew.

As it happened, all three of us turned out to be real writers--a coincidence almost too large to be termed mere coincidence in a society where literally tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of college students aspire to the writer's trade and where bare hundreds actually break through.

Sometimes the embers are better than the campfire.

If the stuff you're writing is not for yourself, it won't work.

The only [working] ritual is making tea. I use the loose leaves and drink it by the gallon.

Clear communication between selves - the surface self and the deep self - is the enemy of self-doubt. It slays confusion.

Teddy, Vern, Chris: I don't shut up. I grow up. And when I look at you, I throw up. Aghhh! Gordie: And then your mom goes around the corner and she licks it up.