Once, at a dinner party, I was asked if I had read the latest bestseller. I said no, but I would love to sit down and have a talk with the person who wrote it.
Writers are lone wolves who mate for life with the act of writing.
Writers go about their lives noticing and remembering things, whether it be one's own painful learning experiences, one's own exciting learning adventures, or the conversations, stories and experiences of others. Once stored in the subconscious, these ideas and experiences age, marinate and connect until, when they are finally ready to be expressed in the world, nothing can stop them from being put down on paper. Writing is a way to give substance and form to the life force that is within each of us. Never ask a writer, however, what he is working on or how it is progressing, for these are meaningless questions. All you will get for an answer is a blank stare of condescension or non-comprehension, for a writer can no more answer such questions than can a woman who is in the process of giving birth.