I don't paint anymore. I haven't since I abandoned it at 19, in order to begin writing seriously.

I never take any notes or draw charts or make elaborate diagrams, but I hold an image of the shape of a book in my head and work from that mental hologram.

I hate libraries for the way they put stickers on things. I don't approve of folding over pages, or of writing in books. God, forget scissors - that's beyond the pale.

I'm not too embarrassed to say I'm the definition of the target audience. This is my generation, the one of exalting music in album form.

Writing is a necessity and often a pleasure, but at the same time, it can be a great burden and a terrible struggle.

Some people have things written all over their faces; the big guy had a couple of words misspelled in crayon on his.

When I write lyrics, I really do go into an automatic folk appropriation mode... I see the vernacular register of 20th century song as being a bunch of forms to adapt and reconfigure.