A writer is obviously at his most natural and relaxed when he writes in the first person. Writing is a personal transaction between two people, conducted on paper, and the transaction will go well to the extent that it retains its humanity.

Readers must be given room to bring their own emotions to a piece so crammed with emotional content; the writer must tenaciously resist explaining why the material is so moving.

Writing wasn't easy and wasn't fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.

Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style.

If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.

Memoir is the art of inventing the truth.

I almost always urge people to write in the first person. ... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.