Fiction is [a form of writing which] reveals truths that reality obscures.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential.

Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.

Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free.