I think most of us are outsiders. And I think that's good because it makes you question things.

I think it's important to experience kindness so that you can experience it more in the future. I believe that patterns of emotional behavior are set down before adolescence. And I think that if you have not observed kindness, you will not recognize it. You have to experience kindness in order to be kind.

Characters are so important to a story that they actually decide where the story is going. When I write, I know my characters. I know how things are going to end, and I know some important incidents along the way.

The essential problems remain the same... The kids I write about are asking for the same things I wanted. They want two contradictory things. They want to be the same as everyone else, and they want to be different from everyone else. They want acceptance for both.

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

I get ideas for my books from people I know and what happens to them, from places I've been and what happens to me, and from things I read.