Writing is not a genteel profession. It's quite nasty and tough and kind of dirty.

"I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within. "

The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can't help it

Writing is the flip side of sex – it's good only when it's over.

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else."