The truth is, I have never written a story in my life that didn’t have a very firm foundation in actual human experience—somebody else’s experience quite often, but an experience that became my own by hearing the story, by witnessing the thing, by hearing just a word perhaps. It doesn’t matter, it just takes a little—a tiny seed. Then it takes root, and it grows. It’s an organic thing.—Katherine Anne Porter

This portrait of Katherine Anne Porter was painted by Michael J. Deas.

• This quote comes from a 1963 Paris Review interview with Katherine Anne Porter. Read the complete interview here.
• Read a short bio of Katherine Anne Porter at PBS.
• Find out about the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction from the University of North Texas Press.
• Read “Cultivating Your Writing Seeds,” an excerpt from my book with advice on how to collect and develop writing ideas.
• For a visual way to reflect on writing seeds, watch the five-minute video in my post about Basia Irland’s ice books.
• See more quotes about writing here.