“(N)ot writing was hard work, almost as hard as writing.”

“That's the hard work of writing. The imagining.”

“Just start the sentence...and see what happens. This is how we write.”

“(D)ialogue is generally the worst choice for exposition. 'When you're writing lines...you need to focus on the way people actually talk. And when we talk to each other we never actually explain our terms. We don't say 'Sweetheart, would you pass me the sugar bowl, which we picked up for a song at that antique stall in Munich.”

“I spent my next hour reshelving, and the next thirty minutes straightening out the Mc's and Mac's. Nobody on God's earth understands the Mc/Mac principle anymore. In order to do that, you have to be willing to think about something other than your genitals for a full minute.”

“There were no ordinary human beings. Everybody was born with a surprise inside.”

“Nothing was truly unbearable if you had something to read.”