Why do you write? (6)

... my publisher asked me.
In a round about way Paul Auster answered that question by telling a few short anecdotes, stories, that were just too good, or beautiful or special to remain untold. Once you see the stories around you, it is hard to keep them to yourself. Not because their meaning is so great, but simply because they are wonderful in themselves. Full of wonder. Or full of weirdness. May be they don't mean anything, but they make you look twice, you think again.
I don't write to thrill people. If a thrill is part of my stories, it is because it was there. The thrill is not the point. It is what happens going from A to B.
I also don't write for the plot or for solving the puzzle. Some of my plots are stronger than ohters, but I will not go out of my way just for the plot's sake.
So, that is what I don't do, and all I am proving is that if you approach something from the negative you can write forever without getting anywhere. Definition by negative only defines the negative.
I write because I know (I feel, I believe) that I have one really good story in me. World class story. And everything I write is my journey to get there. Sometimes I think I am getting close. Other times I feel I am nowhere near.