fan mail

This morning in the fan mail was a letter from a student who wanted to know "what it is about writing that most compels you. Why have you chosen (or perhaps the subject has chosen you, as the case may be) science fiction as your main focus?

I told her "It's hard to say what 'compels' me as a writer.  It's something I do every morning; I have no more need of compulsion than anybody else who has to work for a living.  Sometimes an idea does grab you by the throat and almost writes itself – that is compulsion and it's wonderful.  But if I waited for it, I wouldn't have written many books.

"I think I mainly write science fiction because that's what I most enjoyed reading when I was young.  It was a fortunate choice, since you have a great latitude in what you write about.  Not so much latitude, perhaps, on how you write.  (You grow not to notice that.   A cage with no visible bars.)"

Joe