writing

I've never written any prose fiction on the typewriter. I've just always had a very comfortable relationship with No. 2 pencils and these yellow sheets, which I might add vary also in quality. Some you get are abominable: You can't erase on them, which is something that I like to do. I would be almost in deep despair if I found myself on some island on vacation and unable to get yellow sheets. I could compose on white sheets, in longhand, but it would be an added handicap ...

I get a fine warm feeling when I'm doing well, but that pleasure is pretty much negated by the pain of getting started each day. Let's face it, writing is hell.

-- William Styron in The Writer's Desk by Jill Krementz