“Write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you are writing, and aren't writing particularly well.”

“There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well.”

“If you aren't writing perfection, don't stop and hope tomorrow's is better. Write what you have today, and let it ferment into perfection later.”

“When you write, you want fame, fortune and personal satisfaction. You want to write what you want to write and feel it's good, and you want this to go on for hundreds of years. You're not likely ever to get all these things, and you're not likely to give up writing and commit suicide if you don't, but that is -- and should be -- your goal. Anything else is kind of piddling.”

“You don't write what you know you write to find out what you don't know”

“When I'm writing I don't dream much; it's like the dreaming gets used in the writing.”