It's Part Of The Business Of Really

If You Write Beautifully, You Write Beautifully, That's All.

This Is, If Not A Lifetime Process, It's Awfully Close To It. The Writer Broadens, Becomes Deeper, Becomes More Observant, Becomes More Tempered, Becomes Much Wiser Over A Period Time Passing. It Is Not Something That Is Injected Into Him By A Needle. It Is Not Something That Comes On A Wave Of Flashing, Explosive Light One Night And Say, 'huzzah! Eureka! I've Got It!' And Then Proceeds To Write The Great American Novel In Eleven Days. It Doesn't Work That Way. It's A Long, Tedious, Tough, Frustrating Process, But Never, Ever Be Put Aside By The Fact That It's Hard.

If You're Really A Good Writer And Deserve That Honored Position, Then By God, You'll Write, And You'll Be Read, And You'll Be Produced Somehow. It Just Works That Way. If You're Just A Simple Ordinary Day-to-day Craftsman, No Different Than Most, Then The Likelihood Is That You Probably Won't Make It In Writing.

I've Never Really Topped Myself, Because Awards In Themselves Really Don't Reflect Major Accomplishment. It's Kind Of A Strange, Backslapping Ritual That We Go Through In This Town Where You Get Awards For Almost Everything. For Surviving The Day You're Going To Get Awards.

I Remember The First Sale I Made Was A Hundred And Fifty Dollars For A Radio Script, And, As Poor As I Was, I Didn't Cash The Check For Three Months. I Kept Showing It To People.