'An integral part of the thinking process, with results that would never have been reached without this process.'

An integral part of the thinking process, with sometimes surprising, counterintuitive results that would never have been reached without this process; and that too is how writing can change a writer.

'To me it was heaven; I was full of beans as only a teenager can be, ready to start my dream job, if they'd have me.'

Vagrants filled the doorways as dusk fell. To me it was heaven; I was full of beans as only a teenager can be, ready to start my dream job, if they'd have me.

'If I am right at the beginning of a novel I will have written down an idea that came to me on the train, or in the night, or whilst out on a run, and I might need it now.'

I gather thoughts as I go; if I am right at the beginning of a novel I will have written down an idea that came to me on the train, or in the night, or whilst out on a run, and I might need it now.

'Claim your own space. Never be afraid to step out into unknown territory, armed only with words; they will serve you well. '

Claim your own space. Never be afraid to step out into unknown territory, armed only with words; they will serve you well. Love fearlessly, giving everything.

'Whenever I need to be reminded of why I love poetry, I turn to Jack Gilbert. He holds me back from the brink of dullness, from the pool of polite convention.'

Whenever I need to be reminded of why I love poetry, I turn to Jack Gilbert. He holds me back from the brink of dullness, from the pool of polite convention.

'If I see something amazing I get filled with self-doubt, thinking I myself will never be able to reach the same heights. However if I see something rubbish I don't then think writing is easy.'

If I see something amazing I get filled with self-doubt, thinking I myself will never be able to reach the same heights. However if I see something rubbish I don't then think writing is easy, I just think that maybe there's no niche in the market for me.

'If I there is a guiding principle behind my reading — let's call it a 'tendency' — it's the idea of The Canon. I've been working on The Canon since I was at school.'

If I there is a guiding principle behind my reading — let's call it a 'tendency' — it's the idea of The Canon. I've been working on The Canon since I was at school.

'He is fearful and hopeless, shabby and disreputable-looking; even his eventual martyrdom is squalid and he fluffs his final words. '

He is fearful and hopeless, shabby and disreputable-looking; even his eventual martyrdom is squalid and he fluffs his final words. What impressed me, though, is that he keeps on trying.

'You didn't know that the same shifts in history writing which meant that Unstead could write history for children largely from below, was also changing history for grown ups.'

You didn't know that the same shifts in history writing which meant that Unstead could write history for children largely from below, was also changing history for grown ups, and so changing the path you'd marked out for yourself.

'I stopped worrying about the book I had written and started thinking about the book I wanted to write; instead of looking back I looked forward.'

I stopped worrying about the book I had written and started thinking about the book I wanted to write; instead of looking back I looked forward.