What kinds of things do you think you could never write (but wish you could)?

I could never write a really dirty book. I’m too Catholic. I’m not sure that I’d want to, either, but I see clichés not only in the words but in the spaces between the words and I couldn’t bear to write much about sex. It’s so verby.

When you have a bad writing day, what kinds of things might be the cause? When you are in a grim mood about your work and the limitations of your talent, what is the theme or quality of the thoughts you have?

A bad writing day is just a day of non-focus. I’m not a very anxious person, so I don’t feel I’m jumping off a cliff every time I sit down to write. But sometimes there are other things going on and you just can’t settle with your material. At these times, I will suddenly find myself looking for a new life. I persuade myself I would have been a good lawyer or a loving doctor. I take courses. I sign up with charitable organisations and do work for the needy. I scrub the flat from top to bottom and persuade myself that this is a creative act no different from writing books. I think about joining the Moonies. I decided to take more drugs. I think about getting cats. I write lists – oh my god, lists – of crucial projects much more amenable than the one I’m failing to engage with. I run for hundreds of miles in the gym and pretend that’s spiritual. I lie. I smoke. I dream. I cough. Days like that are just days like that and you have to bear them. As writers, we’re dependent on creating the mood that makes the work possible, and sometimes the world won’t quite allow that – or psychology won’t allow that. You just have to wait.

Thank you.

M.J.Hyland

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