What I've Become Convinced Makes A Writer

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.

I Usually Do At Least A Dozen Drafts And Progressively Make More-conscious Decisions. Because I've Always Believed Stories Are Closer To Poems Than Novels, I Spend A Lot Of Time On The Story's Larger Rhythms, Such As Sentence And Paragraph Length, Placement Of Flashbacks And Dialogue.

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.

But Nothing Is Solid And Permanent. Our Lives Are Raised On The Shakiest Foundations. You Don't Need To Read History Books To Know That. You Only Have To Know The History Of Your Own Life.

I Think I Had A Particular Moment When I Was 15 Years Old. I Read 'crime And Punishment,' And That Book Just, I Think, More Than Any Other Book Made Me Want To Be A Writer, 'cause It Was The First Time That I Hadn't Just Entered A Book, But A Book Had Entered Me.