[Writing] is an addiction more powerful than alcohol, than nicotine, than crack. I could not conceive of not writing.

Writing is, therefore, both a form of compulsive behavior and, I frequently tell people, a self-induced form of mental illness. Those few writers who don’t start off by being a little nuts soon get that way as a direct result of their vocation.

I didn’t start out as a writer. I became one through my habits.

I'm a lazy writer. My idea of heaven is not writing. On the other hand, I'm obviously compulsive about it.

I never wanted to be a writer; I just had stories I needed to tell.

I never wanted to be a writer, either, but I suppose we each find a calling and fall into it.

I am not a professional writer, because I write only when I want to.

A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing.

Writing is not a strategy it’s an affliction

I never set out to study history. I only ever set out to write.

Writing about yourself is addictive. I hope all you kids noticed that. If you feel like autobiography, try heroin. Lots safer and easier to control…

If you need drugs to be a good writer, you are not a good writer.

If you need drugs to be a good writer, you're not a good writer.

I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.