Concluding words …

… Living on the Edge of Life: A Final Interview with Peter Matthiessen |. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Fiction allows you to go deeper. You use your imagination. You can shape the world to make it more valid. When I’m writing fiction, I’m exhilarated. And by the end of the day, I’m hyper. You end up with something that’s unexpected and that’s the real thrill. That’s why I’m more passionate about writing fiction than nonfiction. Nonfiction began for me as a livelihood. I wasn’t making enough money as a fiction writer and I got married too young and had kids. I had to support my family. I was doing better as a commercial fisherman than as a writer.