Perhaps that is why the novel flourished in England. You had these communities that would stay put and people would see one another all the time and cause one another to change and have the opportunity to observe the changes over time.

But a lot of writers - and I'm one of them - do tend to feel dissatisfied. It makes you a little hard to live with, but it's a goad and does keep you alert and restless.

The beauty of a fragment is that it still supports the hope of brilliant completeness.

Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.

In writing you work toward a result you won't see for years, and can't be sure you'll ever see. It takes stamina and self-mastery and faith. It demands those things of you, then gives them back with a little extra, a surprise to keep you coming. It toughens you and clears your head. I could feel it happening. I was saving my life with every word I wrote, and I knew it.

Most of us dont live lives that lend themselves to novelistic expression, because our lives are so fragmented.

There’s no right way to tell all stories, only the right way to tell a particular story.