A beginning idea for a book might be: a boy emerges from a hole in the ground. He enters a house. The book will take place in the first ten minutes following his arrival.

One can't say how one behaved or why, really. Such situations, they are far more complex than any either/or proposition. It is simplistic to produce events in pairs and lean them against each other like cards. I suppose if you a playing go or shogi, then such a thing might be helpful, but that is not life.

I don't start with an idea or concept in the sense that I flesh out an idea or concept and set it at the center of something.

Different times and different structures make more sense at one point in life than at another.

If he acts, if he doesn't, it's meaningless. The whole thing goes forward. No one is important. No one at all.

Much of my work has been done in first person.

I like small books. I like durable books. I like plain books. I like small type and thin pages.