“What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working when he's staring out the window.”

“What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out the window.”

“In the old days, writers used to sit in front of a typewriter and stare out of the window. Nowadays, because of the marvels of convergent technology, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are now the same thing.”

“The hardest thing about being a writer is convincing your wife that lying on the sofa is work.”

“A writer is a writer when he says he is.”

“I don’t ask writers about their work habits. I really don’t care. Joyce Carol Oates says somewhere that when writers ask each other what time they start working and when they finish and how much time they take for lunch, they’re actually trying to find out, "Is he as crazy as I am?" I don’t need that question answered.”