Why I Write

I write in fragments, cutting and polishing until each one seems ready to be put in place - here? or there? - in the mosaic. As the work fills out and the pattern begins to show, it becomes easier to stand back and judge the effect. I look for the illusion of depth and of movement in time and space within the frame of the thing - story, poem, novel - and a symmetry set up by its resonances and correspondences. Towards the end, it seems to be writing itself, fulfilling its own demands. The whole should have the feel of a lived experience, and seem to come together naturally.