Interview with novelist Andre Dubus III

I am so grateful that I found writing, you know? It was rocky for the first 10 or 20 years. Being the great writer's son with the same name, it was a pain in the a**. But I am so grateful to where writing has taken me. And, you know, the writing of fiction, for me, is just a daily act of sustained empathy where you're asking, what's it like to be you? What's it like to be in your situation? And there's no way you can begin to enter into the spirit of this sacred being called a character without authentic curiosity. You know, Rumi has this wonderful line. He says, sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment. And so I - you know, I've been writing all my adult life, which is a long time now. And every morning, I have to strip away my ego. I have to let go of what I want to say and how I want to say it. I have to empty myself and step into whoever is on the page. And it's wonderfully humbling. source

This is what I love about writing. I think the writing is always larger than the writer if you are free falling into your psyche with words and curiosity and a truth-seeking intent. source