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I know when I go and see a writer, the first thing I think to myself is, 'Are they the character in the book?' You just can't help it; it's the way people are.

I think all characters are facets of the writer. In a way, they have to be if you're going to write them convincingly.

I don't much believe in the idea of characters. I write with words, that is all. Whether those words are put in the mouth of this or that character does not matter to me.

Every character a writer creates has some of themselves in it somewhere.

One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they're just infested with lots of stuff.

Sometimes, a writer 'character' is just a projection of a person who is writing the story, but not necessarily 'me.'

As a writer, you rely on whatever makes you up as a person, whether those things are twisted and nasty or otherwise.

In real life, people are constantly saying one thing and doing another, but if you write your characters that way, the story becomes too hard to follow.

You never want to be in a position where your reader feels like you're passing judgment on your own characters. Any novel where you feel like the author is talking to the reader over the characters' heads is in a bad place.

Part of me becomes the characters I'm writing about. I think readers feel like they are there, the way I am, as a result.