'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
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
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
'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
When I was thin, I had no notion of what being fat is like. When I worked in a department store, I had sold clothes to women of most sizes, so I should have known; but perhaps you have to experience the state from the inside, to understand what fat is like. Hilary Mantel clothedepartmentexperience share on social
Fiction isn't made by scraping the bones of topicality for the last shreds and sinews, to be processed into mechanically recovered prose. Like journalism, it deals in ideas as well as facts, but also in metaphors, symbols and myths. Hilary Mantel bonedealfact share on social
I dislike pastiche; it attracts attention to the language only. Hilary Mantel attentionattractdislike Change image and 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
Insights don't usually arrive at my desk, but go into notebooks when I'm on the move. Or half-asleep. Hilary Mantel arriveasleepdesk 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
