I am a compulsive writer.
Writing is like a 'lust,' or like 'scratching when you itch.' Writing comes as a result of a very strong impulse, and when it does come, I, for one, must get it out.
When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen. But if you have not a pen, I suppose you must scratch any way you can.
When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.
Obsession led me to write. It's been that way with every book I've ever written. I become completely consumed by a theme, by characters, by a desire to meet a challenge.
I've tried to quit writing several times, but I enjoy it too much.
I don't write these stories for the rewards that come back to me. I write them because I have to write them. It's a sickness on some level. It's a compulsion.
I was just as voracious a writer as I was a reader.
I genuinely miss writing now on the rare days I don't write; my mouth waters when I think about writing, and I have an extreme physical reaction to the idea of doing it.
It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
Sometimes I've called writing a disease. If so, I'm glad that it caught me.
