Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.
Colm ToibinI never listen to music when I am writing. It would be impossible. I listen to Bach in the mornings, mostly choral music; also some Handel, mostly songs and arias; I like Schubert's and Beethoven's chamber music and Sibelius' symphonies; for opera, I listen to Mozart and in recent years Wagner.
Colm ToibinBetween the ages of 8 and 12 it was difficult to know what my father was saying, and he moved very slowly, and then he died.
Colm Toibin