Put your backbone where your wishbone is.

The thing about inspiration is that it takes your mind off everything else.

I want my books to sell, to be read. I'm not interested in being obscure.

You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.

But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of Middlemarch.

I often feel newspapers are just filling up space. Of course, I also know people who write really long books.

I think if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well.