Elaine asked Scott Hawkins:

This is more of a fangush disguised as a question. I just finished the book and compared reaading you to when I first discovered Stephen King. A whole new disturbing world opened up. Wow! So here is my question. How disturbed were your dreams when you were writing this? In other words, did you find it hard to keep this wonderfully interesting world from intruding on your real world as you wrote the book?

Scott Hawkins How disturbed were your dreams when you were writing this? In other words, did you find it hard to keep this wonderfully interesting world from intruding on your real world as you wrote the book?

Hey Elaine,

It was a big part of my head space, but in a good way. I don't recall ever dreaming about Mount Char, and it's not hard to keep the book world separated from the real world. TBH, I usually don't talk about what I'm writing at all. I read a psychology study at one point that said if you talk about doing X, you get approximately 50% of the gratification of actually writing it. I think the tip was in relation to exercising and eating right, but I think it applies to writing as well.

When I'm working on a project, I think about it a lot, especially near the end. I go over dialogue when I'm driving, looking for plot holes when I'm in the shower, trying to spit-and-polish all the character moments. Towards the end it does get a little overwhelming. I can't pay attention to movies, I can't read other books...it really is just about all that I think about. "Obsessive" would not be too strong a word, I think.

It's not unpleasant, though. Writing Mount Char probably was the most fun I've ever had.

Scott

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