Novels give you the matrix of emotions, give you the flavour of a time in a way formal history cannot.

There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.

In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better.

In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. . . . You can only learn to be a better writer by actually writing.

You only learn to be a better writer by actually writing

I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer.