'The Sopranos' all came down to the writing. I wouldn't have been on for as long as I was if the writing weren't so good.
Soundgarden are kind of the masters of writing songs that aren't pop cliches.
I started writing and photographing for different publications and finally ended up being the correspondent in South Asia, for the Geneva-based Journal de Geneve, which at one time used to be one of the best international newspapers in Europe.
Writing about where I was from and the people I knew was not something that would have occurred to me early on, because like so many Southerners of that period - the Sixties - I rejected those things when I went north.
I majored in English with a specialization in creative writing along with Asian American Studies.
I don't think academic writing ever was wonderful. However, science used to be much less specialized.
I think what happens with a lot of writing and art is that specificity ends up being relatable while universality becomes vague.
It stresses me out writing songs,; I get really super nervous and speedy. I feel like I'm possessed.
Writing about magic is harder than writing about spies because you're dealing with something that doesn't really exist.
I went to grad school with the grand plan of getting my Ph.D. and writing weighty, Tudor-Stuart-set historical fiction - from which I emerged with a law degree and a series of light-hearted historical romances about flower-named spies during the Napoleonic wars.
Often the process of writing can feel like spitting into the ocean.
I try and relate my writing to something I know about, and I had a primary experience of being in a competitive, military environment and being part of a squadron.
The writing of the wise are the only riches our posterity cannot squander.
Whenever I can squeeze it in, I'm writing and recording.
It's a cliche, but true, that writing is intensely solitary and at times really lonely. I sit in one room and talk to squirrels and blue jays all day.
In a way, I started 'Goon Squad' not even realizing I was writing a book. I thought I was just writing a few stories to stall before starting this other book that I wanted to write - or thought I wanted to write: I still haven't written it.
I really love standup, and I really love writing standup.
I'm writing a musical. I am. I was able to buy the rights to 'The Preacher's Wife,' which starred Whitney Houston... I'm writing a whole new score and all the lyrics for it.
I'm still startled when people ask me for writing advice.
I go through my tweets while writing and be like, ‘Oh, this has staying power and is still relevant.'
