An unpublished writer should doubt themselves. They should constantly wonder whether what they’re creating has merit. And then, having doubted, they should take up their pen and see if they can’t make it better.

I don’t see big subjects as separate from little ones. Yes, you could trudge through life with great human tragedies played out before your eyes without ever taking notice. Or you could see a universe in the smallest thing. The way a person takes their coffee, for example, might say something profound and important about that person, about all humanity, about existence itself.

Is the writer cruel that makes his characters suffer only to bring them to triumph or tragedy in the end?

To be motivated to write a novel, I need to be unable not to write.

Good writing is more about graft and craft than inspiration and aspiration.