There came a time in every prolonged effort when he had a moment of near panic, or 'terror in a lonely place', the original semantic content of the word. The lonely place was his own mind.

That's what in theory differentiates a writer from everyone else. You see and hear more clearly.

The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house was on fire.

When my head is in the typewriter the last thing on my mind is some imaginary reader. I don't have an audience; I have a set of standards.

Fear is self-awareness raised to a higher level.

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us.

The future belongs to crowds.