Novels, in my experience, are slow in coming, and once I've begun them I know I have years rather than months of work ahead of me. Graham Swift aheadbegincome Change image and share on social
Structure that really pays off is all based on emotion. I don't write down an elaborate plan. It's really done by feel. It's one area of my writing that I think I've got surer at as I've evolved. Graham Swift areabaseelaborate Change image and share on social
There's an undeniable thrill in seeing what's most current in our lives offered back to us in fictional guise, but it soon dates and it's never enough. Graham Swift backcurrentdate Change image and share on social
It can be dismaying, all the same, for a novelist to compare the slowness of the writing with the speed of the reading. Novels are read in a matter of days, even hours. A writer may labor for weeks over a particular passage that will have its effect on a reader for an instant - and that effect may be subliminal or barely noticed. Graham Swift barelycompareday share on social
I share my name with an aerobatic bird that can whiz across a whole summer sky in seconds. A swift is so equipped for speed that it can scarcely cope with being stationary. Graham Swift aerobaticbirdcope Change image and share on social
Today's news, which may be yesterday's anyway, will be eclipsed tomorrow. Graham Swift eclipsenewstoday Change image and share on social
I'm not a writer who looks for the fantastic and the sensational. I like the world we've got. If there is anything special and magical, I have to find it in the ordinary stuff. Graham Swift fantasticfindhave Change image and share on social
I had a fear of becoming anything, a fear of becoming a specialist. I might have become a doctor, but if you become a doctor, that's your specialty in life and you are defined by it. One of the attractions of being a writer is that you're never a specialist. Your field is entirely open; your field is the entire human condition. Graham Swift attractionconditiondefine share on social
I think the purveyors of e-books are only too happy for this atmosphere of 'everything belongs to everybody' to increase because it means they don't have to think so much about the original maker of the thing, or they can get away with paying them less. Graham Swift atmospherebelongbook share on social
Part of the very impulse of writing for me is actually wanting to get away from myself. Graham Swift impulsepartwant Change image and share on social