From a story on crimereads.com by John Higgs headlined “The Year Ian Fleming Finally Started Writing His Novel”:

After five years of procrastination, Ian Fleming sat down at the typewriter.

He began to write not for the joy of creating, but as a way to avoid reality. He was forty-three years old and troubled by thoughts of the future. At the typewriter, he could escape reality and dream about the person he would rather be.