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I think everything we do, on one level or another, as writers, most of our writing is informed by our world view.

We all have our opinions. But I suspect that writers are actually less worth heeding, because they regard themselves as so uniquely important, so culturally sensitive.

A writer's job is to give the reader a larger vision of the world.

Isn't that what writing is about? The constant attempt to understand the world?

Readers prefer a world they can relate to.

Writers are completely out of touch with reality. Writers are a crazy person. We create conflict - for a living. We do this all the time, sometimes on a weekly basis; we create horrible, incredible circumstances and then figure a way out of them. That's what we do.

Writers are the ones who figure out how to put their observations into words.

Narrative becomes the way you make sense of chaos. That's how you focus the world. It's the only reason you should ever try this writing job.

Most American writers don't get asked their opinion on current affairs, whereas in Europe and England, we still do. There are writers here who are the most sophisticated commentators, but they're not asked. Like Don DeLillo, who sort of forecast most of the modern world before it happened.

There are many reasons why novelists write, but they all have one thing in common - a need to create an alternative world.