“Being a writer is a good, good thing.”
“There is no such thing as a good writer and a bad liar.”
“If you need drugs to be a good writer, you are not a good writer.”
“I'm a good person but a shitty writer. You're a shitty person but a good writer. We'd make a good team.”
“Thackeray's a good writer and Flaubert is a great artist. Trollope is a good writer and Dickens is a great artist. Colette is a very good writer and Proust is a great artist. Katherine Anne Porter was an extremely good writer and Willa Cather was a great artist.”
“Honestly,” he says, “I judge writers on how they write queries. If you’re a good writer, you’re a good writer.” And if not, then not.”