“It seems that in writing a composition, one must first have in mind a reason for writing. If there is a reason behind it, no matter what one writes about, it will turn out to be excellent writing. If there is no reason behind it, there is no way to write. Even if one can produce something, it will be as dry and unpleasant as chewing wax.”

“The reason a writer writes a book is to forget a book and the reason a reader reads one is to remember it.”

“The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do everyday. There are two reasons for this rule: Getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind.”

“I soon learned that one must give up everything and not do anything else but write, that one must write write write.”

“Authors write books for one, and only one, reason: because we like to torture people.”

“They write songs about California girls for a reason.”

“The reason I got into magic was that it seemed to be what was lying at the end of the path of writing.”

“There is no reason to write pornography when your own sex life is good. Why waste time writing about it?”

“One ruins the mind with too much writing. — One rusts it by not writing at all.”

“There are many reasons why novelists write but they all have one thing in common a need to create an alternative world.”