But the idea of a man making his living by writing seemed, in that hardy environment, so fantastic that even today I am sometimes myself assailed by a feeling of unreality.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I just can't get used to the idea of being somebody unreal in people's minds. I can't live my life like that. And it's just anathema to being a writer. It's not healthy.
As I have encountered difficult moments in my own life, I have been privileged to learn from the great men I have come to know as a writer.
There's always this sense of incredulity that writers feel, because they're usually living flat and ordinary lives, because they have to.
All the time, I've felt that life is a wager and that I probably was getting more out of leading a bohemian existence as a writer than I would have if I didn't.
I always felt that I was a writer, that was what I had to do.
I don't reckon there are many writers who start out really expecting writing to be an attainable occupation. Well, I didn't. It was a pipe dream.
I became a writer in spite of my environments.
I don't know if I had ever found my place in the world until I fully committed to being a writer.
I'm not quite sure when I began to be troubled by the creeping sense of my own ludicrousness, but it persisted - and eventually grew into a fascination. I started writing about it. Thus, in His characteristically mysterious way, the Lord made clear His plans for me.
The idea that you could make a living from writing always thrilled me.