Don't get discouraged because there's a lot of mechanical work to writing. I rewrote the first part of Farewell to Arms at least fifty times.

A severed femoral artery empties itself faster than you can believe.

I don't want to be your friend, baby. I am your friend.

Il faut d'abord durer (First One Must Endure).

All I know is that young boys sleep late and hard.

I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult, and how nearly impossible it was sometimes.

You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again.