Elizabeth Berg

I suppose writing nonfiction did prepare me for writing fiction. Whenever you write anything, you're honing your skills for writing anything else. ”

I think the most important quality for a writer to have is empathy. ”

Women have a real talent for bearing up under hard times. ”

I remember, as a child, wanting all the time to buy my parents presents. I stood around forlornly in fancy shops, unable to afford a single thing. ”

Whenever I write a novel, most of the time it starts with barest slip of an idea. ”

I always wrote as a vehicle for expression but did not try writing for publication until my mid-thirties, at which time I started writing for magazines. I wrote essays and then short stories, then moved into novels. ”

The process is different for every book, but there are similarities. I always draw from the inside out. I don't plot them ahead of time, and I'm always surprised by things that happen in my books. ”

No matter what you write, you need an active imagination. ”

Some people read an interesting or provocative newspaper article, and that's the end of that. A writer reads such an article, and her imagination gets fired up. Questions occur to her. She might feel an urge to finish the story that the article suggests. ”

I don't really like questions about the writing process, because the truth is I don't know how I write. ”