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I'm always writing. A friend of mine once said, 'You avoid re-writing by writing.' Which is kind of a good point, because re-writing seems to be mostly about craft, and writing is just, like, getting out your passion on a piece of paper.

I'm a fairly fast, but sloppy writer, so I'm a big fan of re-writing, and re-writing again.

So writing is a very, very difficult position to obtain... and retain.

You know, I haven't written as much as most other writers. Certainly maybe those who keep a more regular schedule accomplish more.

Writers are used to being re-created, and need it.

Writing for me is largely about rewriting.

Most so-called writers keep writing and writing with the hope, some day, to find something to say.

Writing for me is not a premeditated act. It just happens - characters keep coming out of nowhere and doing things I never expected them to do. The most persistent and most productive of these has been Paul Christopher, whom I didn't expect to see again after he appeared in 'The Miernik Dossier.'

My only job is to write in such a way that the reader gets a new handle on humanity.

I've never written anything that I haven't wanted to write again. I want to, and still am, writing 'A Few Good Men' again. I didn't know what I was doing then, and I'm still trying to get it right. I would write 'The Social Network' again if they would let me, I'd write 'Moneyball' again. I would write 'The West Wing' again.