Every novelist has a different purpose-and often several purposes which might even be contradictory.

You must avoid giving hostages to fortune, like getting an expensive wife, an expensive house, and a style of living that never lets you aford the time to take the chance to write what you wish.

I imagine that my characters have become much more complicated than when I first began, which would be normal

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. Why do kids play football? They can get hurt on any play, can't they? Yet they can't wait until Saturday comes around so they can play on the high school team, or the college team, and get smashed around. Writing is like that. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it!

Isaac Singer was born in Poland and doesn't write in English. Still, he's an American.

I'm not as hopeful as I was when I was young

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it.