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Mostly I have to try to censor myself so as not to write things that will hurt other people, or that will go too far.

When you're on your own, you have all the self-censorship that everybody has when they try and write. All the little voices that say, 'No, you can't write that, what will they think of that?'

Censorship is the thing that stops you doing what you want to do, and what writers want to talk about is what they do, not what stops them doing it.

I don't for one second think about the possibility of censorship when I am writing a new book. I know I am a person who cares about kids and who cares about truth and I am guided by my own instincts, and trust them.

I can't censor myself; it's really important for me to say how I feel.

Once you have your characters, they tell you what to write, you don't tell them.

'Shun security,' I advise aspiring novelists when they complain to me that they are stuck. 'Get disoriented. Maybe your agonizing writing block isn't agonizing enough. Your enemy is comfort.'

The things I write about are completely removed from my own life, but people want to know the characters better.

I spend days with writers' block. It is a problem.

I try not to censor myself at all.