(on short assignments): “You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you.”

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.”

“Perfectionism means you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.”

“Some of us tend to think that what we do and say and decide and write are cosmically important things. But they’re not. If you don’t know which way to go, keep it simple.”

“It helps to resign as the controller of your fate. All that energy we expend to keep things running right is not what’s keeping things running right.”

“Unacknowledged truth saps your energy and keeps you and your characters wired and delusional. But when you open the closet door and let what was inside out, you can get a rush of liberation and even joy.”

“If you’re not enough before the gold medal, you won’t be enough with it.” (Cool Runnings)

Key points: butt in chair, short assignments, shitty first drafts, one-inch picture frame, tell the truth, give it all.