“That 'writers write' is meant to be self-evident. People like to say it. I find it is hardly ever true. Writers drink. Writers rant. Writers phone. Writers sleep. I have met very few writers who write at all.”

“There are all kinds of writers. The best writers write children's books.”

“Distractions have never prevented a Writing Writer Who Writes from writing; distractions are an excuse proffered by Non-Writing Non-Writers Who are Not-Writing for why they are not writing.”

“I don't want to be a writer so I can write about my life. I want to be a writer to escape from it.

+ Then you shouldn't be a writer.”

“If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.”

“Edvin is one of those persons who write to survive as writers and people; for them being a human and writer is the same thing.”

“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.”

“They're hardly given to conventional writers, and a writer like myself is hardly given a knighthood.”

“How I began to write is different than how I became a writer. They are two different things. Many people write but they do not become writers. To become a writer is a job. It involves planning and it affects all parts of your life. Even what you eat—being a writer means not eating food with too much rich sauce to avoid taking a long afternoon nap! It’s like being a professional athlete. And a writer must choose between being a sprinter who writes a book, and being a writer who creates an oeuvre. If you want to create an oeuvre, you have to be careful not to put all your energy into the first book. You have to have a vision for the long term...”

“Life cannot defeat a writer who is in love with writing - for life itself is a writer's love until death.”