It's a Jungle Out There

Write Your Way Out

Write Dangerous

"Dangerous writing is not serial killers or speed-crazed race car drivers.  What makes writing dangerous is something much more personal. To write dangerous is something much more personal.  To write dangerous is to go to parts of ourselves that we know exist but try to ignore—parts that are sad, sore; parts that are silent, and heavy.  Taboo.  Things that won't leave us alone."

Cast Off the Fear

"Cast off the fear.  I was terrified about writing stories about where I came from because I was embarrassed.  Truly great writers are not afraid to bare their souls.  Sometimes you may feel like: 'I shouldn't have put that in there, I don't want people to think it's about me or look at me differently.'  Toss those thoughts aside.  That's a mental block.  Don't think about it.  Just do it.  As long as you write from a place of purity, and it comes from your heart, you can't go wrong."

Protect Your Voice and Your Vision

"You've got to protect your voice and your vision from everybody, really.  Even the best-intentioned editors.  And I mean, I love my editor; I've been with Vicky Wilson for over 35 years.  She's wonderful, and her remarks on the finished manuscript are always terrific.  But I don't go to her to discuss a germinating idea."

Just Write

"I don't think we should discuss ideas.  I think we should just write, and then go in with the book and say, 'here's the book.'  Now, sometimes you have to say something.  But I wouldn't listen to what they say back—because they're not prophets. ... Agents particularly are really not in the business of being prophetic.  They know what has worked, and that's it."