My childhood gave me a very powerful sense of being spooked. I didn't know whether what I was seeing were sensory images of other people's unhappiness. Perhaps that was just the way the world manifested itself to me. Hilary Mantel childhoodgiveimage share on social
'Wolf Hall' attempts to duplicate not the historian's chronology but the way memory works: in leaps, loops, flashes. Hilary Mantel attemptchronologyduplicate Change image and share on social
Writers displace their anxiety on to the tools of the trade. It's better to say that you haven't got the right pencil than to say you can't write, or to blame your computer for losing your chapter than face up to your feeling that it's better lost. Hilary Mantel anxietyblamechapter share on social
When you write, you are not either sex. But when you're read you are definitely gendered. Hilary Mantel genderreadsex Change image and share on social
'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late. Hilary Mantel deskhalllate Change image and share on social
Life being so short, and the possible books to write so many, it's good to function by night as well as by day; but would anybody become a writer if they realised at the outset what the working hours were? Hilary Mantel bookdayfunction share on social
