I don't believe in writer's block,
when I don't feel like writing,
I don't write,
I'll go to the racetrack,
or I'll go to the ballpark,
or, you know...
I'll call you,
and say, "Honey, want to go
have an ice-cream cone?"
Something.
You know, the point is...
no, I'm not one of those people
who can sit down in front 
of the blank sheet of paper
or the blank screen
and force myself to write.
There are writers who do that,
it doesn't matter
how you get it done,
this is a matter
of "if" you get it done,
and that it does get done.
Everybody has their method,
some people hate to write,
some people love to do it,
I can't speak for anyone but myself.
But, basically, when I'm working
on a project,
on a novel, say...
you know,
it's like building a house,
every day you lay a few more bricks.
Now, my belief
has always been in people,
in what you give them 
and they give you,
and so,
what's more spiritual than that?
Trust.
The meaning of friendship is trust.
I've been very fortunate,
I think, in terms of friendships
because I'm still friends 
with so many people
that I was
friends with when I was a child.
Maintaining
these kinds of friendships,
if they're worth maintaining,
is the greatest thing,
because... the communication,
I mean, you don't have 
to explain anything to anybody.
And, you know, I can...
call somebody on the phone,
or they can call me
and we just start talking,
it's the same conversation
we've been having over decades.
We know who we are,
where we came from,
how we got to where we are now...
But, there's that other side,
I realize,
as I described earlier,
of being sort of just locked up
alone in a little room, writing.
So then, the world is right there
in front of me and it's all
coming out of my head.
Whatever the world is
that I choose to be writing about,
I'm always traveling.
You have to earn other's affection,
and they have to earn yours.
And it's done by example.
It's not done by words,
it's always done by action.
And, you know, that's...
That's what friendship means to me.
And it's expressed
through that kind of trust.
You know, be yourself.
Be confident in yourself.
And you'll find your place here.
I think that's the best advice
I can give to anyone.
