But what I hope for from a book - either one that I write or one that I read - is transparency. I want the story to shine through. I don't want to think of the writer.
I feel I'm functioning at some level as a journalist because even though I write fiction, I'm trying to get the world accurate.
I do other sorts of things. I act in other people's movies. I direct operas. I write books.
My Web site, everything I write in there is from me.
I am very spontaneous when I write; it kind of just comes out. I never think about what I'm going to write about first... it just sort of comes out like word vomit.
I hate it, it is tedious... when I write for my act, it is very improvisational, I write bullet points, I cannot sit in front of a computer; that is not my style.
I like to edit my sentences as I write them. I rearrange a sentence many times before moving on to the next one. For me, that editing process feels like a form of play, like a puzzle that needs solving, and it's one of the most satisfying parts of writing.
I like writing. I get cranky when I can't. Yes, I write books back to back, and I work very hard on them.
I write a song to be recorded. And to some extent to be performed, but definitely more to be recorded than performed, because the recording will last longer than a performance.
I flip the turntables. I write a lot from the male perspective, but as a female. That's how I live my life. I can roll with the boys.
I guess what people forget sometimes is that when I write songs, I write them sometimes in about 20 minutes.
I don't just write letters. I write laws.
The way I write is totally instinctive. I just write what I feel or what I find funny - and hope everyone else agrees.
I'm a huge fan of comedy. I write material whenever I can.
I write in the morning, I walk in the afternoon and I read in the evening. It's a very easy, lovely life.
When something is bothering me, I write a song that tells my feelings.
When I write stories I am like someone who is in her own country, walking along streets that she has known since she was a child, between walls and trees that are hers.
I start with a character and a situation, but I don't know what's going to happen until I write it. Sometimes things happen that surprise me.
When I write, I enjoy myself so much that what is being written really needs no reader.
The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in the various elements that interest me, in the hope that their being combined will lead to some kind of insight.
I don't write drafts. I write from the beginning to the end, and when it's finished, it's done.
I think I write funny songs that make people kind of, like, stop what they're doing and be like, 'What did you say?' And then it makes them laugh a little bit.
I don't write stories about despair. I write stories about hope.
I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated.
I write books, I write for comic books, I give lectures... I live. And when the opportunity comes to do a picture, I do a picture.
With each book I write, I become more and more convinced that the books have a life of their own, quite apart from me.
I write in longhand and assemble lots of notes, and then I try to collate them into a coherent chronology. It's like groping along in the dark. I like writing and find it challenging, but I don't find it easy.
I play the piano a lot at home. I write songs on the piano and guitar. I would like to actually play piano on stage. I don't think I'll get the chance for a while.
Sometimes I write them down in musical notation as a trigger to remind me about certain directions to go. Or I can be specific about a sound I'm looking for.
I feel I'm able to get rid of any demons lurking in my psyche through my writing, which leaves me free to create all of this and to enjoy our family life, stepping away from all the fictional traumas and the dramas. If I write about family in crisis, then I won't have to live through it, I guess.
I write in longhand. I am accustomed to that proximity, that feel of writing. Then I sit down and type.
To be honest with you, I don't male-bash. I don't believe in male-bashing. I write about things that are natural, that happen in life.
I'll have periods when I write and periods when I don't. But you don't want it to become a discipline, really. If it becomes a discipline, it becomes a chore, and that's no good. To make art you need to be inspired.
I love movies. And I dig a great love story: the kind that wrecks me, then builds me back up and leaves me inspired. I write what I want to see.
I write because something inner and unconscious forces me to. That is the first compulsion. The second is one of ethical and moral duty. I feel responsible to tell stories that inspire readers to consider more deeply who they are.
Without always meaning to, I write really long short stories, 60-pagers, 90-pagers, pieces of fiction that are too long for all but the bravest magazines to print, and too short for all but the bravest book publishers to publish.
