"I want to be able to express all the currents that flow inside me.  To have that agility to reach a state of otherness and yet express my own internal truth at the same time."

"A story finds its own proper way of announcing itself."

"Gogol once said that the true, unwritten last line of every story is: 'And nothing was ever the same again.'  The same could also be said for the first line of any story: 'And from that moment on, everything was about to change.'"

"The short story is a sprint, and the novel is a long-haul marathon composed of numerous internal sprints."

"In the end, though, every line is autobiographical simply because it has come from me.  There is no other explanation.  I'm not conducting a literary seance: I am putting the words on the page, and I must take full responsibility for what are, in essence, my words."

"I think a story, when properly told, finds its own natural length.  If you try to extend it too much, it just stretches and begins to bore, and if you try to compress it too much, it just fractures.  So you just hope that you can find the right rhythm.  It's a musical thing.  You feel it out, you cut back, you switch things around—until it feels entirely natural.  A story should feel easy when of course it's far from easy." (artist)

"The specific challenge is to get it done.  And to get it done as powerfully and as beautifully as you can.  And to split the atom every time you write a sentence.  That's all.  No big deal.  Just split the atom once.  And then do it again and again.  And then find a good title.  And hope that someone gets blown away." (artist)

"Quite frankly, I'm tired of writers complaining how tough it all is.  Man up.  It's a wonderful and privileged way to live your life.  Embracing difficulty is just part of it all."