But I don't sit back waiting for it. I work every day. Let's face it, writing is hell. On the whole, audiences prefer that art be not a mirror held up to life, but a Disneyland of the soul, containing Romanceland, Spyland, Pornoland and all the other escapelands which are so much more agreeable than the complex truth. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
Writing is a struggle between presence and absence.
The only end of writing is to enable readers better to enjoy life or better to endue it. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children. Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good. The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.