Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of a hill. You must have all your skills under control from the first instant.

Never think of revising as fixing something that is wrong. That starts you off in a negative frame of mind. Rather think of it as an opportunity to improve something you already love.

It is the nature of stories to leave out far more than they include.

It is curious how believable I can be when I criticize myself, how unconvincing when I give myself praise.

Where do storytellers find the wisdom to discover their own stories? From no place more mysterious than their own hearts.

Description needs to slide into a story like a snake through grass - silently, almost invisibly, without calling attention to itself. It should enrich every story moment without slowing the action.

another word for talent is obsession.

when you are dealing with art, any kind of art, your pleasure in making it is what matters most.

I was an adult before I began to learn that there is a difference between a conversation and an argument.

my experience as a fiction writer tells me that the deeper I look into myself, the more universal is the experience I find there.

Human beings are storytelling animals. That's what separates us from other creatures, not just having thumbs or using tools.

And though they fell as ashes, their shadows drifted as leaves.

But if ever I try to mend, some other bodies would instantly break, would instantly be fragments.

Crying is good for the soul. It means something needs to be released. And if you don't release the something, it just weighs you down until you can hardly move.

Immediate gratification is a dream killer.

While mistakes may be local, in today’s connected world embarrassment is global

I don't have a life, I really don't. I'm as close to a nun as you can be without the little hat. I'm a golf nun.

It's wonderful to look back and think you were part of a force that shaped modern music and influenced the public in so many ways. However, that's all in the past.

I come from theater, and doing period stuff is so whimsical and imaginative and so outside any frame of reference than I have ever had so I prefer that just in terms of fun factor.

I'm a Taurus, you know. A bull. I belong in a field.

Owning stocks is like having children - don't get involved with more than you can handle.