“It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

“You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.”

“You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing.”

“The more truth you can get into any business, the better. Let the other side know the defects of yours, let them know how you are to be satisfied, let there be as little to be found as possible (I should say nothing), and if your business be an honest one, it will be best tended in this way.”

“What others think about you is none of your business.”

“What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.”

“I really think that reading is just as important as writing when you're trying to be a writer. Because it's the only apprenticeship we have. It's the only way of learning how to write a story.”

“Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.”

“Before I begin, may I ask how old you are?"
"You may ask."
"How old are you?"
"It's none of your business”

“Just a reminder, what other people think of you is none of your business.”