A reader is not supposed to be aware that someone's written the story. He's supposed to be completely immersed, submerged in the environment.

A reader is not supposed to be aware that someone's written the story. He's supposed to be completely immersed, submerged in the environment.

So I'll write it, and then I'll find out that I actually wrote something that is utterly useless. You can't use it in the story and it doesn't fit. So I just throw it away. I've done that countless times.

Then there was Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote for Weird Tales and who had a wild imagination. He wasn't a very talented writer, but his imagination was wonderful.

The story was such that I couldn't make a graceful ending and then make a graceful new beginning. I could have, but I didn't want to. So, it isn't the most graceful way of writing a story. This new story is, I think, is pretty good stuff. I'm pleased with it anyway.

A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.