-: My name is Alice McDermott,
I am a novelist,
and a professor of the humanities
at Johns Hopkins University.
Especially early in the career for young people,
read everything.
You know, read the classics,
read the old, dead, white, European guys.
Yes, 'cause they're good.
Read them.
Then read the literature of other cultures.
Read the newspaper.
See the difference between how someone writes a news report
and how someone writes a personal essay.
Hear the various voices of every writer
you can get your hands on.
Because that's how you'll know what you want.