“If you're going to write, you have to be open to possibility.”

“Fantasy is totally wide open; all you really have to do is follow the rules you've set. But if you're writing about science, you have to first learn what you're writing about.”

“If you're not scared when you are writing you're not working hard enough. You'll be afraid but you have to keep going.”

“My main objective in writing is to open the minds of my readers, to say 'the world can be a wonderful place - its possibilities are open to you and your imagination'.”

“You're never confident. You go in fear and trembling every day. It would be awfully nice to think that you know how to write a novel. But what you know is the novel you just wrote. You don't have the slightest notion how to write the one you're going to do next.”

“If you're going to write, don't pretend to write down. It's going to be the best you can do, and it's the fact that it's the best you can do that kills you.”