Here’s a joke I can’t put on Twitter: Writing a novel is such a difficult and all-consuming activity that it’s necessary to neglect everything else in your life. A tidy house, a job of any responsibility, healthy friendships – all these things take away from the book. Start by giving up those things. (This may be as far as you get.) ...

I have always been a sound sleeper, and have often had very active dreams, full of detail and nuance. Sometimes I also have strange, non-immersive, non-narrative dream states where I’m sort of aware that I’m asleep, but I’m too busy examining words forwards and backwards to come to full consciousness. When I wake up from these states, I’m often able to bring back a newfound anagram or a recherche phrase I’m unaware of having previously known, like the time i woke up with the words “the Upanis...