Read Books. They Are Good For Us.

[t]he One Thing I Want For You Is To Recognize When You Are Really Singing In Writing Practice And Honor That. Trust That. When You Were Screaming On The Page. Maybe That Doesn't Make A Whole Book But That Is The True Seed.

Even An Ice Cream Parlor - A Definite Advantage - Does Not Alleviate The Sorrow I Feel For A Town Lacking A Bookstore.

The First Thing Is How Awful Cancer Was, The Experience. When You First Go Through It, You're Just Trying To Survive. But When I Wrote About It, I Really Digested It. It Was Unbearable But I Had Practice Behind Me.

The Only Failure In Writing Is When You Stop Doing It. Then You Fail Yourself.

Let's Say I've Directed That [writing] Energy Into Writing My Latest Book But Suddenly, I Really Want To Write About An Onion. I Don't Say To Myself, "no, You Have Stay On The Subject," Because I Know That The Longer I Stay On The Subject The More Boring I Get. So, If My Mind Wants To Write About An Onion, It Might Be A Deeper Way To Go Into What I'm Working On, Even Though It Might Seem Irrelevant. This Is How I've Learned To Follow My Mind.