The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century.
— E. L. Doctorow
Like art and politics, gangsterism is a very important avenue of assimilation into society.
Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.
Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.
There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there's only narrative.
I try to avoid experience if I can. Most experience is bad.
Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.
It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
We're always attracted to the edges of what we are, out by the edges where it's a little raw and nervy.
Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.
