Almost everything that has happened in my writing life has been the result of keeping my head down and doing the work.

When I think of the wisest people I know, they share one defining trait: curiosity. They turn away from the minutiae of their lives—and focus on the world around them.

Most of us can’t tolerate extended breaks. We are reminded how lousy, how out of touch we feel when we’re away from the page. So as you come to the end, promise yourself—as I am promising myself—that you will sit down tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Not to start something new. Not with the expectations or fantasies of what you might (or m

Be a good steward to your gifts.

Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.

I thought of my favorite passage in the Gnostic Gospels: If we bring forth what is within us, it will save us. If we do not bring forth what is within us, it will destroy us.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

We grow angrier as the day progresses this way. How can we be letting this happen?

writing from a place that haunts you, from the locus of your obsession and fear and desire—and