Remove all the traffic lights, yellow lines, one-way systems and road markings, and let blissful anarchy prevail. I imagine it would produce a kind of harmony.
If I think about the writers I love or might be influenced by, I can't write at all, so I pretend there aren't any.
I dont get distracted until the weight of other things left undone finally tips the balance; my mind is flooded with calls, bills, supermarkets, letters, and I have to stop and sort things out.
I've always thought it was important not to attach too much superstition to the space where you're writing, because once you get into the mindset that you can only do it a certain way in a certain place, your creativity can get blocked.
My father was a screenwriter, but he was also a novelist.
Oh, I always think everyone feels left out.
Horses know how to be loyal but still keep their distance.
I like to come into my workspace and feel its a living environment and not frozen, which is why I often change or add to the pictures on the wall.
I think that we are all much closer to our childhood selves than we often think, so when we read about childhood, it can surprise us how immediate or moving it is, when perhaps those feelings are just there, waiting to be accessed all the time.
When Im writing, I spend all my time in The Grocer on Elgin buying ready-made meals; I think they are the only reason my husband and kids havent left me.
When I was a child, I wanted to raise horses in Wyoming or be a cabin boy on a pirate ship.
I have a study now - I used not to. I also love working in cafes; ignoring noise is good for concentration.
Art is inspiring. Walking into a gallery, or when the lights go up on a stage; that thrill of getting something that has nothing to do with acquisition.
Our minds and memories are crowded with the common experience of nature.
I love writing on trains. The joy of being a writer is it's all in your head; you don't need materials apart from the laptop. It's like taking your work home with you, so you can feel grounded in your own insane writerly realities wherever you are.
