It's crucial, in my view, to have the reader see, and that is not to say that you've got to lard the page with masses of description, but key, vivid, specific details, like little starbursts in the darkness, I think have emotional consequences. If you can see this then you can feel it.—Ian McEwan, interviewed by David Lynn

Tolstoy is a master at opening up moments and taking time to leisurely follow a character's thoughts and actions. His contemplative style encouraged me to slow down and open up moments in my own novel.—Melissa Pritchard, interviewed by Leslie A. Wootten

The themes in this collection pretty much coalesced on their own. I didn’t see them until fairly late in the process, and it was so illuminating and surprising to see the pattern that had slowly emerged in my work. I learned a great deal about my own basic preoccupations.—Mary Yukari Waters, interviewed by Sherry Ellis

You want to choose a detail, or two or three, that conveys the whole, and ideally those details should be both accurate and unexpected, so the place or person in question feels both well and newly observed.—Michael Cunningham, interviewed by Sarah Anne Johnson

All of these artistic geniuses arise in countries that promote education and health and have more money and more time. Art is a leisure activity. If you have to scramble for your food every second of the day, you're not going to make art.—Ann Patchett, interviewed by Sarah Anne Johnson

When I write a book, I write it as though it might be the last thing I ever do. I convince myself that this is it—my last will and testament in language.—Charles Johnson, interviewed by Jennifer Levasseur and Kevin Rabalais

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