“Writing Gets Harder, Which Is Not What I Thought Would Happen”

Hollinghurst is a meticulous writer, spending years on each novel.

He said: “I’m not at all easy to live with. I wish I could integrate writing into ordinary social life, but I don’t seem to be able to. I could when I started. I suppose I had more energy then. Now I have to isolate myself for long periods. It’s all become more of a challenge. I find writing novels gets harder and harder, which is not what I thought would happen. I thought you’d learn how to do it.”

_From The Writer’s Almanac about British author Alan Hollinghurst, whose most recent novel is The Sparsholt Affair.