“I have been a writer since 1949. I am self-taught. I have no theories about writing that might help others. When I write, I simply become what I seemingly must become. I am six feet two and weigh nearly two hundred pounds and am badly coordinated, except when I swim. All that borrowed meat does the writing. In the water I am beautiful. ”
“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of. ”
“I am writing in the garden. To write as one should of a garden one must write not outside it or merely somewhere near it, but in the garden.”
“I write best when "I" am not writing.”
“If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.”