William Boyd: ‘I can only manage three hours’ writing before fatigue sets in’

The novelist on the two desks in his office, finding the perfect pen and looking forward to cocktail hour

Among the many binary divisions that writers fit in to – raw or cooked, cowboys or Indians, town or country, etcetera – is that of larks or owls. I have a feeling that most writers are larks, starting their day early and winding down with a bibulous lunch. I’m very much an owl, however. It’s not that I sleep late in the morning, it’s just that my brain – my writing brain – seems to function best in the second half of the day, after lunch and on into the evening. So the morning is reserved for the mundane business of living – emails, admin, going for a walk, shopping, phoning, posting letters – and then after lunch (a sandwich, a bowl of soup, cheese on toast – nothing too copious) the day’s work really begins.

Related: Sweet Caress by William Boyd review – love and war in the 20th century

Continue reading...