I attended seminars where many social issues were discussed abstractly, outside the pressures of an immediate situation, and there I developed certain attitudes which permitted me to face the real thing when it came along.
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody else does is of no concern whatever except as an interesting variation.
If you type adeptly with 10 fingers, you're typing faster than your mind is working.
If there was a turning point for me, it was 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri.' It is a very fine short novel. But it gave me very little satisfaction. Really. I decided I wasn't going to go down that avenue.
There are no insoluble problems. Only time-consuming ones.
I missed a whole cycle of childhood, but I've never used it as a device for self-pity.
