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Seeing yourself in print is such an amazing concept: you can get so much attention without having to actually show up somewhere. While others who have...more

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I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all...more

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The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that need...more

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If you don't know where to start, remember that every single thing that happened to you is yours and you get to tell it.

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Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you're conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the trut...more

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Two things put me in the spirit to give. One is that I have come to think of everyone with whom I come into contast as a patient in the emergency room...more

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Almost every single thing you hope publication will do for you is a fantasy, a hologram--it's the eagle on your credit card that only seems to soar.

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Rituals are a good signal to your unconscious that it is time to kick in.

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You get your confidence and intuition back by trusting yourself, by being militantly on your own side. You need to trust yourself, especially on a fir...more

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Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence; it takes conscience, our belief that something is beautiful because it is right.

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I want people who write to crash or dive below the surface, where life is so cold and confusing and hard to see.Your anger and damage and grief are th...more

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You want to avoid at all costs drawing your characters on those that already exist in other works of fiction. You must learn about people from people,...more

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A writer paradoxically seeks the truth and tells lies every step of the way. It's a lie if you make something up. But you make it up in the name of th...more

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Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle...more

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E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the wh...more