I think that’s why I write—the not knowing and the blasted good feeling I get out of it all.

Passionate attraction to someone of the opposite sex will make a hero or a fool of a novelist each time.

As an outsider I was free to pick my own literary traditions, to build my own system of literary values.

Lost in New York City. Not that I don't know where I am, but rather perplexed as to where I am going.

I'm writing. The pages are starting to stack up. My morale is improving the more I feel like a writer.

For me, at least, fiction is the only way i can even begin to twist my lying memories into something true.

I sometimes think if I did not write I would be a madwoman. Now I am a sane woman with a lot of mad pages.

A key to a long, productive writing life is finding ways to support that life, emotionally and existentially.

Writing is like breathing, it's possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.

Make your skin as thick as you are able to, for your career. Keep it as thin as you can tolerate, for your art.

Last night your thin walls invited me to the party next door / reminded me I am a quiet person in a quiet life.

Never be afraid to write what you believe. If the message speaks the truth, others will fear your words for you.

To write freely is to walk a joyous, terrifying, exhilarating path naked through the world of the fully clothed.

Of course, I tried to surround myself with other people like me whose dream of writing was a constant burden....

First time I ever put pen to paper, I had one goal – to build something no one had ever thought of before.