WHEN: Usually in the morning. I also sometimes get a burst of creativity near the end of the day. I usually aim for five hours of work a day. I prefer silence. I find that I get very affected by the environment and I don't want my sentences to be shaped by music or extraneous noise.
HOW: When ideas strike I write them down. Often, what sounds good in your head does not look good in writing. Writing takes time. For example “An Obedient Father” took nine years to write and it was a process of revision, of going down wrong paths and then backing up. I also teach creative writing and often an idea strikes in the middle of class. I try to hold it in my head until the class is done and then I write it down.
WHAT: My books need research which I mostly do through interviews. I read all the time, both fiction and non-fiction, even when I am working on my books and other writing. I tend to read the classics.
WHERE: I have a desk with a narrow window beside it. Whenever I get tired of working I can look up at the sky. I prefer typing onto a computer. I don’t like gadgets. I think technology, other than a word processor, is not that relevant to writing. I deal with the dreaded writers block by lowering my standards or maybe changing a plot point.
