I started life in a poor family and could not even afford a proper tertiary education.
We're all strange inside. We learn how to disguise our differences as we grow up.
You know, one of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music.
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
We face up to awful things because we can't go around them, or forget them. The sooner you say 'Yes, it happened, and there's nothing I can do about it,' the sooner you can get on with your own life. You've got children to bring up. So you've got to get over it. What we have to get over, somehow we do. Even the worst things.
If you get the landscape right, the characters will step out of it, and they'll be in the right place.
Character isn't developed when we get what we want. Character is developed when we don't get what we want.
There are many kinds of conceit, but the chief one is to let people know what a very ancient and gifted family one descends from.
Most clear writing is a sign that there is no exploration going on. Clear prose indicates the absence of thought.
What would Christ do if he were in my situation?