'To become a better writer, do you actually need to be less of a writer; a writer for less of the time? Or is this cheating too? Performing at being alive.'

To become a better writer, do you actually need to be less of a writer; a writer for less of the time? Or is this cheating too? Performing at being alive for research purposes, rather than really being alive.

'Rarely, a poem will appear as if from nowhere. I first remember it happening in a Devon orchard, staring at the trees and feeling them simply turn into words.'

Rarely, a poem will appear as if from nowhere. That really is a treasurable moment. I first remember it happening in a Devon orchard, staring at the trees and feeling them simply turn into words. It was a real poem, perhaps my earliest real poem.

'My imaginary children: a short little book I knocked off in six months, into which I poured all my anguish and gratitude for never having had offspring.'

My imaginary children: a short little book I knocked off in six months, into which I poured all my anguish and gratitude for never having had offspring, and fantasised about what sons or daughters I might have had. Being a novelist is such a blessing.

'In addition to the experience of writing an individual book, the career of a writer as a whole is something of a rollercoaster. '

In addition to the experience of writing an individual book, the career of a writer as a whole is something of a rollercoaster. One book may sell unexpectedly well, only to be followed by another title that inexplicably fades without trace.

'New York City was clearly where I ought to be, not stuck on a farm in rural Buckinghamshire! I should be strutting up Fifth Avenue.'

New York City was clearly where I ought to be, not stuck on a farm in rural Buckinghamshire! No, I should be strutting up Fifth Avenue, drinking cocktails in rooftop bars, and listening to jazz with the beautiful people at Elaine's.

'A friend stepped in to say that she would care for Boy 1, for one day a week, alongside her other three children; in return, we would feed her and the family on Sundays. '

A friend stepped in to say that she would care for Boy 1, for one day a week, alongside her other three children; in return, we would feed her and the family on Sundays. What a gift! Now I had one whole day a week to write, guaranteed.

'People you haven't spoken to in years will expect free copies of your book, while others, close to you, won't read it at all.'

People you haven't spoken to in years will expect free copies of your book, while others, close to you, won't read it at all, or will offer "constructive" criticism when it's clearly too late to change anything.

'I've been accused of getting facts wrong when I haven't, or leaving things out when I haven't. There must be something about a woman on stage....'

I've been accused of getting facts wrong when I haven't, or leaving things out when I haven't. Even in an audience that is ninety-six percent women, it will be a man who raises his hand. There must be something about a woman on stage...

'Georges Perec wrote an entire book without using the letter 'e' — La Disparition, translated by Gilbert Adair as A Void — but that wasn't my game.'

No matter how hard I jabbed, the letter 'e' would not appear on the screen. The French novelist Georges Perec wrote an entire book without using the letter 'e' — La Disparition, translated by Gilbert Adair as A Void — but that wasn't my game.

'Norman MacCaig notably built up quite a body of poems about the animals and birds you are likely to encounter in an urban city like Edinburgh.'

Norman MacCaig notably built up quite a body of poems about the animals and birds you are likely to encounter in an urban city like Edinburgh, and his poems showed me that you don't have to be a naturalist to respond to nature.