Ask James Howell discussion

James Bond author Ian Fleming famously spent his mornings eating, drinking and swimming in Jamaica in between writing his novels, William S Burroughs used the cut-up method as a catalyst to his writing, so what rituals or routine do you use to get in the zone for writing?

Thanks for your question Alistair. Fleming's method sounds very appealing, but I don't have that luxury just yet.

A lot of authors say you should write something every day, but I don't like to force it when I know that I'm not on form. I'm very easily distracted and take a while to get in the zone, so generally I like to just lock myself away for a couple of days at a time and "binge write". I also write a lot in the early hours of the morning when the house is quiet and I have no interruptions.

Depending on what scene I'm working on, I might have a glass of red or a vodka to get the creative juices flowing, but there's a fine line between enhanced creativity and pissed! I'll sometimes listen to Aphex Twin or NIN while I'm writing, but this again depends on what scene I'm writing.

I'd be interested to find out more about the Steve Klein method of working one day...

Yes, that sounds interesting, as well as the Geoff Percival method...