We Are Creatures Of Story.

A Problem With A Piece Of Writing Often Clarifies Itself If You Go For A Long Walk.

A Novel, In The End, Is A Container, A Shape Which You Are Trying To Pour Your Story Into.

However, The Difficulties And Pleasures Of The Writing Itself Are Similar For A Novel With A Historical Setting And A Novel With A Contemporary Setting, As Far As I'm Concerned.

I Have Learned So Much From Working With Other Poets, Travelling And Reading With Them, Spending Days Discussing Poems In Progress. There Is The Sense That We Are All, As Writers, Part Of Something Which Is More Powerful Than Any Of Us.

Writing Poetry Makes You Intensely Conscious Of How Words Sound, Both Aloud And Inside The Head Of The Reader. You Learn The Weight Of Words And How They Sound To The Ear.