Sometimes I know what my characters are moving away from or toward; more often I just wait and see. For instance, though I knew Sinkler in 'The Trusty' was going for water, I did not know that he would meet a fetching young farm wife until I got him into her front yard.

You got one choice at the beginning but if you didn't choose right, things got narrow real quick.

I think writing a poem is like being a greyhound. Writing a novel is like being a mule. You go up one long row, then down another, and try not to look up too often to see how far you still have to go.

It's a hard place this world can be. No wonder a baby cries coming in to it. Tears from the start

We had some good times at school. I didn't know how good those times were until I left, but I guess that's the way of it

What I've become convinced makes a writer are the days you hate it, the days you'd rather stick those pencils in your eyes. Sometimes I almost punish myself - if I'm not going be able to write, I'm not going be able to do anything else. I just sit there and wait.

Cool-Hand Luke' is one of my favorite movies.