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Continuity is one of the things I like about New England.

Tracy Kidder

England

I wrote a novel about the combat experiences I didn't have in Vietnam.

Tracy Kidder

Vietnam

I want my prose to be as clear as a pane of glass.

Tracy Kidder

Prose

Want

I usually write about ordinary people and ordinary things, but Paul Farmer is the least ordinary person I've ever met... He's the leader of a small group of people who hope to cure a sick world, and I hope my book can help in some small way.

I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read.

Tracy Kidder

Writing

I tell beginning readers to read a lot and write a lot. If you want to write a book, find a subject that's really worth the time and effort you'll put in.

At first, I spend about four hours a day writing. Toward the end of a book, I spend up to 16 hours a day on it, because all I want to do is make it good and get it done.

I know that to write you have to have stories you want to tell. You have to keep your mind alive, and you have to work hard.

I always want to write something better than the last book.

Tracy Kidder

Want

Being a professional writer is not an easy way to make a living.

If you had an essentially happy childhood, that tends to dwell with you.

Tracy Kidder

Childhood

When I select a topic, it's usually a commitment of two to three years of my life.

You do the right thing even if it makes you feel bad. The purpose of life is not to be happy but to be worthy of happiness.

What interests me is trying to catch the reflection of the human being on the page. I'm interested in how ordinary people live their lives.

Things were here before you and will be here after you're gone. The geographic features, especially, give you a sense of your own place in the world and in time.