“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.”

“For a writer to put his own intellectual musings, which he might sell for a low price as essays, into the mouths of artificially constructed characters which are more remunerative when issued as people in a novel is good economics, perhaps, but does not make literature.”

“Don't let yourself slip and get any perfect characters... keep them people, people, people, and don't let them get to be symbols.”

“A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it.”

“The hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.”

“Some writers are only born to help another writer write one sentence.”

“You can write any time people will leave you alone and not interrupt you. Or rather you can if you will be ruthless enough about it. But the best writing is certainly when you are in love.”