The first writing I did was short short stories for a newspaper syndicate for which I was paid five dollars a piece on publication.
When I'm actually writing by hand, I get more of a sense of the rhythm of sentences, of syntax. The switch to the computer is when I actually start thinking about lines. That's the workhorse part. At that point, I'm being more mathematical about putting the poem on the page and less intuitive about the rhythm of the syntax.
For me, the guitar synthesizer is a great writing instrument.
There's a beautiful, kind of seductive trap in being autobiographical in our writing of songs: We just get stuck in our own syrup, and it's so personal that it almost can be embarrassing to the listener.
Partly what I'm writing about is the way taboos get toppled.
It's true that I'm taking a break from writing a regular column to do other things but it's got nothing to do with what dear Simon has or has not written.
Conservatives don't want to read good, smart books. They mostly want to read Fox and talk radio hosts writing about presidents.
I have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now are - they sort of tap dance through it.
If I'm not tasting wine and food... I'm thinking about wine and food. If I'm not thinking about wine and food... I'm writing about wine and food.
I'd love to do another television series. I really love the writing process, and as an actor I really like how much you get to examine in television.
I was already writing 'The Lost Symbol' when I started to realize 'The Da Vinci Code' would be big. The thing that happened to me and must happen to any writer who's had success is that I temporarily became very self-aware.
Once I've written something it does tend to run away from me. I don't seem to have any part of it - it's no longer my piece of writing.
Whatever the readers feel when they're reading my books, I feel it tenfold when I'm writing it.
Writing a novel about feminism can be a thankless task.
The hardest thing about writing my second album is that I had 20 years to write my first album.
The one thing that's terrible about traveling for fun is writing about it.
I grew up in the theatre. It's where I got my start. Writing a television drama with theatrical dialogue about the theatre is beyond perfection.
When I'm writing a book, sentence by sentence, I'm not thinking theoretically. I'm just trying to work out the story from inside the characters I've got.
Writing songs has a therapeutic effect, and it either kills off love or wins the heart of the lover.
As far as writing and directing, I'm very focused on the thriller genre.
