There Are Places Where Writing

The California I Knew, Old Rancho California, Is Gone. It Just Doesn't Exist, Except Maybe In Little Pockets. I Lived On The Edge Of The Mojave Desert, An Area That Used To Be Farm Country. There Were All These Fresh-produce Stands With Avocados And Date Palms. You Could Get A Dozen Artichokes For A Buck Or Something. Totally Wiped Out Now.

To Sing A Song Is Quite Different Than To Write A Poem. I'm Not And Never Will Be A Novelist, But To Write A Novel Is Not The Same Thing As Writing A Play. There Is A Difference In Form, But Essentially What You're After Is The Same Thing.

It's Hard To Explain Why Exactly, But I Think That When I Began Writing Plays, It Was From An Actor's Point Of View More Than Anything. I Had The Feeling That If You Put Yourself In The Position Of The Actor On Stage And Write From That Perspective, It Would Give You A Certain Advantage In Terms Of Being Inside Of The Play.

I've Heard Writers Talk About "discovering A Voice," But For Me That Wasn't A Problem. There Were So Many Voices That I Didn't Know Where To Start.

This Isn't Champagne Anymore. We Went Through The Champagne A Long Time Ago. This Is Serious Stuff. The Days Of Champagne Are Long Gone.