"'When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story,' he said. 'When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.'" pg. 57
"Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough." pg. 74
"The most important [he learned from his character, Carrie] is that the writer's original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader's. Running a close second was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you are doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel s*&t from a sitting position." pg. 77 (Can I get an Amen?!)
"Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around." pg. 101
"Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page...If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else." pg. 106
"You don't need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing...You learn the best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself." pg. 236
What have you read that changed you as a writer? As a person? Why is reading important to your writing life?
What has life taught you as writer?
And most importantly, have you ever tipped a cow?