I often wonder if all the writers who are alcoholics drink a lot because they aren't writing. It is not because they are writers that they are drinking, but because they are writers who are not writing.

The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter; the act of writing does.

While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.

Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there are no true excuses. This is our life. Step forward. Maybe it's only for ten minutes. That's okay. To write feels better than all the excuses.

Over and over, we have to go back to the beginning. We should not be ashamed of this. It is good. It's like drinking water.

That's very nice if they want to publish you, but don't pay too much attention to it. It will toss you away. Just continue to write.

There is no security, no assurance that because we wrote something good two months ago, we will do it again. Actually, every time we begin, we wonder how we ever did it before.