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Why do you write?

I become preoccupied with images and memory pictures. Eventually, if they hang around long enough, these images become the cornerstone of a short story or a scene in a novel. If I did not write, I w ...

Why do you write?

Writing has always seemed an easy, natural thing to do. But it was a long time before I thought of myself as a writer rather than an academic.

Are you a vivid dreamer?

I don’t think so. I hardly ever remember any of my dreams, so I suspect they are ...

Why do you write?

It’s the one thing I know how to do. I could never catch a ball when I was a kid, couldn’t balance on a bike, can’t drive a car – not to mention other inadequacies. It’s a relief to think that I have one area of competence, relatively ...

Why do you write?

Storytelling in all its forms is one way of having something curious, strange, and comforting to say to others and ourselves when we are faced with the malaise of the real.

Are you a vivid dreamer?

Yes, hugely. But I no longer have much of a theory of dream interpretation. I do kn ...

Why do you write?

I write to understand the world, and also to find out what I think. When I look at something very closely (whatever it is: fruit bats or space travel or a particular situation), it seems to expand; to contain allusive meanings I wouldn’t see if I weren’t writing about it. My books are also about honouring otherwise forgotten peo ...

Why do you write?

I’m actually answering this question last because it’s had me stumped for days. The most important reason I can come up with is, because it’s fun. When I wrote The Art of the Engine Driver, I wanted it to have some of the compression and charge of a great pop song – like Please Please Me.Writing should feel ...

Why do you write?

I wish I knew. Living life in only one dimension, without having another world or set of characters to visit, doesn’t seem enough. I’m always happier when I’m writing, and not so easy to live with when I’m not.

Are you a vivid dreamer?
...

Why do you write?

I write for a reader, any reader – just one – who is willing to participate on a creative level in the experience of my book. I do not plan my novels, and I think if I ever did I would lose interest in finishing them. Nor do I ever alter the order in which the narrative unfolds. Otherwise, how would I keep track of what my reade ...

Why do you write?

It’s a thrill to build up a story and to inhabit characters. I’m alone and not alone – in touch with layers of life I’m not able to savour when I’m living it.

Are you a vivid dreamer?

No. I’m a vivid waker. Christina Stead called ...

Why do you write?

Because I like to eat.

Are you a vivid dreamer?

During the day. I love reverie. It’s underrated. As T.E. Lawrence put it: ‘The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream, to make it possible. This I di ...