The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they read more

The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes.

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all read more

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but read more

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.

Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have read more

Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have had the courage and honesty to perceive and feel.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a read more

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, read more

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. read more

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember read more

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.