I don't write for catharsis; I have to write to understand.
We write to discover what we think.
The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it
I have never started a novel - I mean except the first, when I was starting a novel just to start a novel - I've never written one without rereading Victory. It opens up the possibilities of a novel. It makes it seem worth doing.
I do have a strong sense of an order in the universe.
Another thing I need to do, when I'm near the end of the book, is sleep in the same room with it...Somehow the book doesn't leave you when you're asleep right next to it.