When I finished [writing it], I was crying. I knew at long last, after ten years of trying, I had written something good.

I've been writing every day of my life for 65 years.

Write 1000 words a day. That's only about four pages, but force yourself to do it. Put your finger down your throat and throw up. That's what writing's all about.

The only good writing is intuitive writing. It would be a big bore if you knew where it was going. It has to be exciting, instantaneous and it has to be a surprise. Then it all comes blurting out and it’s beautiful. I’ve had a sign by my typewriter for 25 years now which reads, ‘DON’T THINK!’

Kerosene," he said, because the silence had lengthened, "is nothing but perfume to me.

Each person was himself one alone. One oneness, a unit in a society, but always afraid, always alone. If I should scream, if I should call for help, would anyone hear would it even matter?

The first stories I wrote when I was 12 were about Mars and landing on Mars.