That's kind of the challenging thing about writing an inaugural poem. You're speaking to everyone, but you don't also want to speak for everyone.

Some writers like to work in other places like coffee shops, but I can't - I'd end up people-watching. And if I were at a bookstore, I'd be reading. Sometimes I have some music on, but usually I like...

I have a friend who calls me the queen of the nightmares because I've always had really bad nightmares. I keep a notebook by the side of my bed, so I'll wake up in the night from a bad dream, and my...

In 2007, I probably wrote four screenplays in the entire year. Every three months I was writing a screenplay.

First and foremost, you want to be truthful as a storyteller.

Writing is not a genteel profession; it’s quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.

I care about actors, and I understand them in a very personal way. I'm not saying every writer has to do that, but in my case, it's been helpful. I can put myself into the scene and think, 'What would...

I think I made my first short fiction sale in 2005. I had been writing unsuccessfully before that.

In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could...

The difference between memoir and autobiography, as far as I see it, is that a memoir is there primarily to tell one particular story, whereas an autobiography tries to be a full account of a life.

Every time I write a nonfiction book I get sued.

One shouldn't say yes in desperation to the first publisher who approaches. New authors especially should wait and weigh their deal and only agree when they are certain they have landed a good offer.

I think that fiction writers can write about anyone. If you are writing a character, and the only thing they are to you is their otherness, then you haven't written a character.

I really liked writing rhyming poems and plays.

I've heard some writers say things like, 'Well, I'm a professional writer. I only start books I know I can finish.' I look at it maybe the other way: I only want to write books I'm not sure I can...

My writing ability all stems from the blues.

I found the structure of writing a screenplay harder than the structure of writing an essay. But it was definitely challenging to force myself to sit and write. I'm not used to having to force myself...

I stopped writing fiction the moment I started writing songs, and I miss it.

You have to be very brave in that first writing session.

You have to learn how to write each book.

When I'm writing, I won't know whodunnit until maybe two thirds of the way through. Until then, I know as little as my detective. I just make it up as I go along. It's nerve-wracking, actually. You'll...

If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it being above water.

When I write, I can shake off all my cares.

When I started writing, I did have some idealised notion of my dad as a writer. But I have less and less of a literary rivalry with him as I've gone on. I certainly don't feel I need his approval,...

I know I'm not a wordsmith. And I don't write poetry. Sometimes I think I should, because it's really helpful. But I always wanted to write novels.

I'm good at coming up with wacky characters and funny dialogue.

For a writer, capturing that elusive Christmas morning magic can be deeply problematic.

The obscurity of a writer is generally in proportion to his incapacity.

You take a universal concept, something that has been done a million times (because everything has been done a million times), and add a fresh twist to it. Something no one saw coming. But mostly...

I do a lot of rewriting. It's very painful.