I rarely listen to music while writing. If I don't like it, it bothers me, and if I like it, it absorbs me so much I can't write.

The thing about inspiration is that it takes your mind off everything else.

I think if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well.

For a writer, obsession is a good substitute for self-discipline.

Those books of mine that are remunerative - I'm not talking about poetry here - take years to write, and I am never sure they'll be successful. So writing is a risk in more senses than one.

I'm not sure anyone can understand a whole life, even their own.

Of course, the greater one's need, the greater one's propensity to be mesmerized.