On the Desire to Write and the Novel Writing Process

I believe that the desire to write first came to me in my teens. When I was at university I intended to become a poet because of the influence of Basil Bunting.

I became a prose writer in my 20’s and I had some some ideas for complicated plots but in those days they were too complicated to bring to a proper conclusion. I still have those original books and I want to go back to them. I still have this tendency to start a book as if blowing on hot coals and then seeing how the flames dance. They don’t always move as I intend and can take on a life of their own. I am perhaps more disciplined now and can handle this process.

My books usually contain more than one plot – usually three but they are not necessarily equal. One of them will come to me more or less as the Lord’s day will come and then the others will almost naturally, almost automatically, thread in.