Writing For Me Is Cutting

I Grew Up In The Church, And So I Feel That God Gave Me Certain Things To Do, And I'm Lucky Enough To Kind Of Have Figured Those Things Out. I Just Don't Want To Die Not Having Tried To Help Somebody Else With What I Know.

I'm One Of The Few Black Writers, Or African American Writers, Who Managed To Work My Way Through The System So That It Has Allowed Me To Speak In A Kind Of Free Way. But Most African American Writers Don't Have That. They Don't Have That Opportunity, They Don't Have That.

I'm A Better Musician Now, And I Rarely Practice Because Age Has Taught Me The Value Of Economy. And I Think I'm A Better Writer Now Because I Don't Waste As Much Time, Dilly-dallying And Sassafrassin' And Sloop And Sloppin' And Frying Eggs. When You Start Writing, Half The Time You're Just Saying Howdy To The Page. My Process Now Is A Little More Lean And Muscular. I Don't Waste A Lot Of Time. When I Had Kids, I Learned How Much Time I Had Before, And How Much Time You Actually Need To Do Something. If You Don't Have Time, You'll Just Do It And Get It Done.

But What Difference Does It Make? ... When You're Mixed, You See How Absurd This Business Of Race Is.

When You're Interviewing Someone, Even Your Mother - You Have To Sort Of Deal With You Have To Get Some Objective Space From Yourself And The Person But You Also Have To Find What's The Best Way To Get The Information From That Person.