Virginia Woolf said that a woman must have a ‘room of her own’ if she is to write fiction. I tend to agree that writing is easier if there is quiet and comfort, and I often fantasise about renting a cottage by the sea for a few months and writing a great literary classic inspired by the waves and the weather. I’m sure that I would be distracted by the views, the walks on the beach or the cliffs and it would probably have WiFi, so there would be no escape from the internet.

I’ve been obsessing about words lately. When I started writing my latest novel I decided that two thousand words per day was a reasonable target. It seemed doable, achievable. So, for the first few days I managed to top two thousand words. Then I had a five hundred word day. Then a twelve hundred word day. For the last few days the weather has been fine, I’ve been out walking and I’ve been working on this website. Word count? Nowhere near two thousand words per day! T