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“those of us hoping to have long careers as professional writers have to develop an autoimmune system of our own that can resist the dangerous (in some cases lethal) toxin that resides within.

Do this, and we can more efficiently dispose of even stronger toxins. In other words, we can create even more powerful narratives to deal with these. But you need a great deal of energy to create an immune system and maintain it over a long period. You have to find that energy somewhere, and where else to find it but in our own basic physical being?”

//

“To deal with something unhealthy, a person needs to be as healthy as possible. That's my motto. In other words, an unhealthy soul requires a healthy body. This might sound paradoxical, but it's something I've felt very keenly ever since I became a professional writer.

The healthy and the unhealthy are not necessarily at opposite ends of the spectrum.”

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“I'd like to postpone, for as long as I possibly can, the point where my vitality is defeated and surpassed by the toxin. That's my aim as a novelist.

And besides, at this point I don't have the leisure to be burned out.