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I don't want to write because I have to; I want to write because I want to. Sometimes, when writers write because they have to, the results are disastrous.

I'm a writer, and what I do is write. I wasn't able to do anything else.

I'm very finicky about when I'm in the right mood to write. So most days, I find some excuse not to do anything.

And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing.

Sometimes I decide I don't want to write because it isn't the thing for me to be doing right then, and I go do something else.

Writing requires the concentration of the writer, demands that nothing else be done except that.

I'm a writer; it's not just what I do, but who I am.

I'm a little harsh. When people say, 'I have writers block. What do you suggest?' I say, 'If you can't write, don't write. No one needs your writing. Don't torture yourself.'

I'm not a writer, and I don't want there to be any mistake about that.

Siren voices tell me, 'You don't have to keep going on.' And then you think, 'I'm a writer. What do I do? Sit there watching my wife clean up?' I don't know. I like being a writer.