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
The experienced writer says to the anguished novice: 'Just do it; get something, anything, on to the screen or page, just establish a flow of words, and criticise them later.' You give this advice but can't always take it. Hilary Mantel adviceanguishcriticise share on social
Back in my 20s, when I wrote 'A Place of Greater Safety,' the French Revolution novel, I thought, 'I'll always have to write historical novels because I can't do plots.' But in the six years of writing that novel, I actually learned to write, to invent things. Hilary Mantel 20sbackfrench share on social
I once stole a book. It was really just the once, and at the time I called it borrowing. It was 1970, and the book, I could see by its lack of date stamps, had been lying unappreciated on the shelves of my convent school library since its publication in 1945. Hilary Mantel bookborrowcall share on social
When narratives fracture, when words fail, I take consolation from the part of my life that always works: the stationery order. The mail-order stationery people supply every need from royal blue Quink to a dazzling variety of portable hard drives. Hilary Mantel blueconsolationdazzle share on social
You can control and censor a child's reading, but you can't control her interpretations; no one can guess how a message that to adults seems banal or ridiculous or outmoded will alter itself and evolve inside the darkness of a child's heart. Hilary Mantel adultalterbanal share on social
I dislike pastiche; it attracts attention to the language only. Hilary Mantel attentionattractdislike Change image and share on social
Like a historian, I interpret, select, discard, shape, simplify. Unlike a historian, I make up people's thoughts. Hilary Mantel discardhistorianinterpret Change image and share on social
Sometimes you buy a book, powerfully drawn to it, but then it just sits on the shelf. Maybe you flick through it, the ghost of your original purpose at your elbow, but it's not so much rereading as re-dusting. Then one day you pick it up, take notice of the contents; your inner life realigns. Hilary Mantel bookbuycontent share on social
Writing comes from that territory of being invalidated. But I had a sense of purpose, too. I wanted to stop apologising for my health, and I thought I might do some good. Hilary Mantel apologisegoodhealth Change image and share on social