Dying can't be all that difficult-up to now everyone has managed to do it.

It's very bad to write a novel by act of will. I can do a book of nonfiction work that way - just sign the contract and do the book because, provided the topic has some meaning for me, I know I can do it. But a novel is different. A novel is more like falling in love. You don't say, 'I'm going to fall in love next Tuesday, I'm going to begin my novel.' The novel has to come to you. It has to feel just like love.

While I'm working on a book, I rarely read anything more than The New York Times. Which may have the long-term effect of flattening my style.

I usually need a can of beer to prime me.

Movies are more likely than literature to reach deep feelings in people.

I guess all that's left is to love the fire.

Amateurs... venture into scenes that a writer with more experience (and more professional concern) would bypass or eschew altogether.