In Writing: Conversations on Inspiration, Perspiration and Creative Desperation
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In these intimate and frank conversations with some of our best-loved writers, I uncover the mysteries of the creative process, asking: Where do ideas come from? How do stories find their shape? What happens when confidence falters or the work fails – and what does success look like?
The answers range from the profound to the hilarious. Here we meet the screenwriter who is tired of being described as ‘clever’; the poet who blanks her harshest critic at parties; the journalist who swears by a 5pm gin and the author who finds writing retreats too relaxing. Taken as a whole, these inspiring interviews amount to an insider’s guide to the writing process: its disciplines and demands; its ecstasies and agonies; its coffees, word counts and publishing hurdles. Most of all, they reveal how it really feels to write and be read.
With contributions from James Acaster, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Jesse Armstrong, Charlie Brooker, Wendy Cope, Geoff Dyer, John Lanchester, Sophie Mackintosh, Emily St. John Mandel, Liane Moriarty, David Nicholls, Graham Norton, Maggie O'Farrell, Kiley Reid, Jon Ronson, Michael Rosen, George Saunders, David Sedaris, Curtis Sittenfeld, Brandon Taylor, Meg Wolitzer and more.