Surprise days off sound great until you’re in the middle of one.
Read MoreMost of what I’m doing when I write, is listening. It’s a different kind of listening than conversations and interviews, but it’s listening just the same.
Read MoreHas any good ever come when one person compared himself to another? The answer has to be, “No!” and yet we keep doing it and doing it and doing it.
Read MoreIf you were born to write, you wanted to share what you had written, often for reasons you didn’t fully understand.
Read MoreI wanted my comforts and to resume my habits. All I could do was sit with my cat on my lap and wait.
Read MoreTo be an artist, you must embrace your inherent freedom.
Read MoreTo appreciate an ending, you must understand it’s invented.
Read MoreApproval, no matter from whom, can be a powerful motivator.
Read MoreI couldn’t hold that stillness forever any more than I could a freshly packed snowball.
Read MoreThe only way to solve the problem of the future is to ignore it.
Read MoreThe difference between your enemies and allies is forgiveness.
Read MoreIdeas are like invited guests. Who comes depends on the party.
Read MoreThe quality of his voice I enjoyed was the depth of his agreement with his own unique perspective.
Read MoreThere’s a lot of people in my life whom I love and who love me. I don’t write for them.
Read MoreIf there was only one piece of craft advice I could give a new writer, it would be that your job is to say the most in the fewest words possible.
Read MoreWriting becomes an excellent exercise in valuing what we would otherwise abolish or condemn.
Read MoreThe story is never, ever outside of us.
Read MoreThe author is a like a lawyer, his readers the jury, and his details the evidence.
Read MoreFriendliness is our natural relationship to one another, what is always present if we stop worrying about whether we’re likable or interesting
Read MoreSometimes inspiration arrives with fireworks and cymbal crashes. More often, however, inspiration comes with no fanfare at all. I simply notice something.
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