“All of these lines across my faceTell you the story of who I amSo many stories of where I've beenAnd how I got to where I amBut these stories don't mean anythingWhen you've got no one to tell them toIt's true, I was made for youI climbed across the mountaintopsTravel across the ocean blueI cross over lines and I broke all the rulesAnd baby I broke them all for youOh because even when I was flat brokeYou made me feel like a million bucksYou do, I was made for youYou see the smile that's on my mouthIt's hiding the words that don't come outAll of the friends who think that I'm blessedThey don't know my head's a messNo they don't know who I really amAnd they don't know what I've been throughLike you do, and I was made for youAll of these lines across my faceTell you the story of who I amSo many stories of where I've beenAnd how I got to where I amOh but these stories don't mean anythingWhen you've got no one to tell them toIt's true, I was made for youOh yeah, and it's true that I was made for you”

“But when I say it isn't meant for anyone's eyes, I don't mean it in the sense of one of those novel manuscripts people keep in a drawer, insisting they don't care if anyone else ever reads it or not.The people I have known who do that, I am convinced, have no faith in themselves as writers and know, deep down, that the novel is flawed, that they don't know how to tell the story, or they don't understand what the story is, or they haven't really got a story to tell. The manuscript in the drawer is the story.”

“I asked her what a true story was because I thought that all stories were made up. She said a true story was called fact, and a made-up story was called ficton. Auntie May said a made-up story is a bit like telling lies, only the people who read them knew that already and so it didn’t matter”

“I am one man with a laptop. When I give the world my characters, it's because I don't want to keep them for myself. You don't like what I made them do? Fucking tell me I'm wrong! Rewrite the story. Throw in a new plot twist. Make up your own ending.”

“I once made up a story as a wedding present for some friends. It was about a couple who were given a story as a wedding present. It was not a reassuring story. Having made up the story, I decided that they’d probably prefer a toaster, so I got them a toaster, and to this day have not written the story down.”

“You like to tell true stories, don't you?' he asked, and I answered, 'Yes, I like to tell stories that are true.'Then he asked, 'After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don't you make up a story and the people to go with it?Only then will you understand what happened and why.It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.”