I think I would have been a writer, anyhow, in the sense of having written a story every now and then, or continued writing poetry. But it was the war experience and the two novels I wrote about Vietnam that really got me started as a professional writer.
I'm probably one of the few authors in this country who could very comfortably live off my writing.
Anyone can write one book: even politicians do it. Starting a second book reveals an intention to be a professional writer.
I wasn't taking myself seriously as a novelist, and then it became my day job.
I had been writing professionally since 1988.
At one point, I had a story accepted at the 'New Yorker,' which sent off weird bells in people when I told them - 'Oh,' they thought, 'now you are a writer' - where I really had been for the last 30-odd years.
It always seemed much better to be a writer - a Real Writer - than a successful hack.
I was just delighted to be a legitimate, for-real published author.
If you are making money writing, you are doing great. If you can support yourself writing, you are a success. I don't care if you're writing textbooks or Pulitzer Prize-winning articles for weighty publications of world renown: If you're writing and it's paying the bills, consider yourself a successful writer.
