Waiting is part of writing. When I write the word 'waiting' by hand it even looks like 'writing.'

Waiting is part of writing. When I write the word 'waiting' by hand it even looks like 'writing.'

I have always believed that there is a need for life-affirming films.

Of course, like all film-makers I've been mesmerised by cinema since I was a child.

No studio in Hollywood wanted 'Cold Mountain.' None. No one wanted 'Ripley,' no one wanted 'The English Patient.' That tells you there isn't really an appetite for ambitious movie-making out there.

I was one of five very clever kids, the other kids were cleverer than I was and still are and are very achieving. The girls were always first at everything and I was always 101st!

The best thing about writing has been the writer's life, the sense of being expressed, the ownership of the day, the entirely specious sense of freedom we have, however slave we are to some boss or other. I wouldn't trade it for any other life.