I decided to write books, just to prove to myself that I was still alive, if nothing else.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I considered that I had to write stories about the people I had met, with whom I'd worked, the history of my books - just in case I up and die.
And then I wrote my first autobiography when I - well, it was 23 years ago. And since then I've written about one book every two years.
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do ever - was write novels.
I decided if I couldn't be a writer, my life would be miserable. I had this imaginary room of references to all the books I had read, a kind of bubble, in which I lived.
I wrote the book because I wanted to be able to share some things that I had learned and as pompous as that may sound, as you get to a certain point in life, you figure so what am I doing?
I went to work in an office and learned, among other lessons, to do things I did not care for, and to do them well. Before I left this office, two of my books had already been published.
My autobiography was simply the story of my life.
I wanted to publish a book simply to be buried with it; that's all I wanted. I had no ambition beyond that.
I had novels to write, so I wrote them.
I decided to write a book primarily because people talked me into it.