I have a lot of respect for readers because I'm a reader. That's how I got into writing.

I tell my students there is such a thing as 'writer's block,' and they should respect it. You shouldn't write through it. It's blocked because it ought to be blocked, because you haven't got it right now.

What's interesting about writing is the invention, the creative thing. Writing about myself is a yawn.

The formula for creative writing in high school or college is write what you know.

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

Love just seems to make life not just livable, but a gallant, gallant event.

When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do.