Blocked or not (and in truth I seldom am), I begin each day by reading poetry. I'm not a poet myself. But somehow to enter that world where language is distilled and precise, and where cadence and word selection are essential...it propels me into my own work with a heightened sense of excitement and possibility.

Throughout the writing of a piece of fiction I continually ask myself questions. Why does he want this? When should she know this? Why does this matter to them? Should this be kept secret? The thing I question most, throughout, is motivation. I suppose these questions are "prompts" in a way—at least they are for me. I think a piece of fiction is writing that answers questions throughout...but also raises new ones.

I went to Brown University when I was seventeen, to major in writing. Professor Charles Philbrick at Brown was the teacher from whom I learned the most, and presumably he taught me many things about language and craft. But what I remember as most valuable was his telling me that I needed to experience things. I was clever at writing but so young and had so little knowledge of life. Of course that was frustrating advice because I wanted to "be a writer" immediately. But he was right. I needed to live, to mature, to observe, to experience....and then, eventually, to put it together on the page.