I used to give up writing like some people would give up smoking.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I have a writing addiction.
I've tried to quit writing several times, but I enjoy it too much.
Writing, for me, was a feat of self-preservation. If I did not do it, I would die. So I did it. Obstinacy, not talent, saved my life.
I started to write in about 1950; I was thirty-five at the time; there didn't seem to be any strong motivation. I simply was endeavoring to put down in a more or less straightforward journalistic style something about my experiences with addiction and addicts.
I started writing to save my life.
There came a time when I felt I was not going to be satisfied with life unless I could write.
Writing's like gambling. Unpredictable and sporadic successes make you more addicted, not less.
I haven't stopped writing which is good. I'm scared to stop completely otherwise it might lead to stagnancy.
I did that for 40 years or more. I never had any writer's block. I got up in the morning, sat down at the typewriter - now, computer - lit up a cigarette.
Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.