"When I was still in prep school - 14, 15 - I started keeping notebooks, journals. I started writing, almost like landscape drawing or life drawing. I never kept a diary, I never wrote about my day and what happened to me, but I described things"

John Irving's quote speaks to the value of composing in his life. He started writing at a young age, not to record his daily life, but to catch the world around him. He likens his writing to landscape illustration or life illustration, suggesting that he was attempting to catch the beauty of the world in his words. This quote speaks with the power of composing, and how it can be utilized to capture the world around us. It also speaks with the significance of writing in Irving's life, as he began composing at a young age and has actually continued to do so throughout his life. Composing has been a method for him to express himself and to record the appeal of the world.