sometimes i wake upin the middleof the nightand findpoetry splatteredall over my bed.

All the best writers take risks, offend people often and say fuck you to the critics.

Don’t ask for advice too much. Go with you, as gritty as that might be at times.

Writers are a superior breed. No one else can face so much rejection and still thrive.

I wonder sometimes if the motivation for writers ought to be contempt, not admiration.

Writing starts with living.—Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing

The awful part of the writing game is that you can never be sure the stuff is any good.

Who thought up the dumb idea to arrange the memoir section in the bookstore by subject?

Does talking to yourself in the voice of your fictional character count as being social?

For years I dreamed of having the sort of massive oak slab that would dominate a room...

Art is too often discounted as a secondary priority. The writer is necessary to society.

Creating characters is easy. It’s getting them to behave that’s the problem.

..here's the editor's prescription, writer: 1000 words daily until next checkup.

There are three certainties in a writer's life: death, taxes, and rejection letters.

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.