I think that The Outsiders was meant to be written, and I was just picked to write it.

If you want to be a writer, I have two pieces of advice. One is to be a reader. I think that's one of the most important parts of learning to write. The other piece of advice is 'Just do it!' Don't think about it, don't agonize, sit down and write.

I go straight from thinking about my narrator to being him.

I advise writing to oneself. If you don't want to read it, nobody else is going to read it.

My boyfriend suggested I write two pages a day. He wouldn't take me out if I hadn't done my two pages. That's how I wrote my second novel.

All of a sudden it felt like people were peering over my shoulder, wondering what I would write next. I was blocked for four years.

I never base a character on someone I know. You can get ideas from real life, but every character you write is some aspect of yourself.