“A writer is an organism that will go on writing even after its heart has been cut out.”

“One hasn't become a writer until one has distilled writing intoa habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession.Writing has to be an obsession. It has to be something as organic,physiological and psychological as speaking or sleeping or eating.”

“The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it's been broken into a million pieces.”

“...nearly everything seems a letdown after a writer has finished writing something.”

“When a writer writes, it's as if she holds the sides of her chest apart, exposes her beating heart. And even though everything wants to heal, to close over and protect the heart, the writer must keep it bare, exposed.”

“If a writer starts worring about what he or she has left out or forgotten, they might not be able to write even a single line.”