I write fiction because it's a way of making statements I can disown.

I've never written an original piece for film; all the original things I've done are for the stage.

I'm going to be dead before I read the books I'm going to read.

Rewriting isn't just about dialogue, it's the order of the scenes, how you finish a scene, how you get into a scene. All these final decisions are best made when you're there, watching. It's really enjoyable, but you've got to be there at the director's invitation. You can't just barge in and say, "I'm the writer."

The truth is always a compound of two half- truths, and you never reach it, because there is always something more to say.

I like plays where people talk a lot. Conversation is sustained. Argument is sustained.

I don't really have a system or set of principles. It's kind of common sense mixed up with instinct.