Q: It's Saturday morning. 4:00 a.m.

You are going to the writers conference this morning. Or later today.

You are thinking about what you are going to say, typing up what you wrote at work yesterday, converting what you wrote at work and last night to htm files, to upload them later this evening, and writing this.

A: Yes.

One gets tired.

One wants to say, "Enough. I quit. It's too much."

Q: Do you ever get discouraged, and think, No one is going to see this anyway--what's the point?

A: Constantly.

I'm thinking that now.

It's a lot of work.

Then I think, I'm lucky to have this.

It wasn't having a career that kept Bukowski going. It was being a writer.

Same with Charles Willeford. Being a writer kept him going.

All you can do is keep going.

Q: Not being a writer. Doing the work.

A: That's what I meant. We are what we do.

A writer, that's very clear.

It's a very existential job.