Any book, I've found, has its own natural length, and one of the tricks is determining just how long it needs to be. A certain gauge of wire can be easily stretched across a room, but not across the Grand Canyon.
—Michael Cunningham, interviewed by Sarah Anne Johnson
Writing may be the only time in your life that you can be "right" because you can revise yourself.
—Charles Johnson, interviewed by Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais
Most of our conflict in life resides in not knowing. I think that is why a single point of view or a limited point of view can create tension and cause the reader to have some stake in watching the character do the right or wrong thing.
—Antonya Nelson, interviewed by Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais
I thought it was going to be a snap. But in fact when I sat down to write it, I discovered what I thought I thought about Europe was not at all what I thought.
—Louis Begley, interviewed by Robert Birnbaum
It's worth it in some ways, but if you had a choice, you’d certainly take an easier life. There's a lot attached to having the kind of sensitivity and awareness that writers need to have.
—Carol Roh-Spaulding, interviewed by Linda Swanson-Davies
