The author and oncologist on his red suede writing couch, his admiration for Orwell and his love of cell biology

The winner of the Costa best novel award on the surprising similarities between writing and training for an Olympic slalom

The author and columnist on her powers of concentration, the importance of Pilates and the trials of co-existing with an inquisitive tabby cat

The author on the importance of desk height, watching birds and Myriorama cards

The Nigerian author on the importance of counting words, watching cat videos on YouTube, and the creative moments in which magic takes place

The author on dreaming white landscapes, the dangers of Lycra-clad cyclists and why it’s faster to write a libretto than poetry

The creator of Mog on learning how to draw a tiger at the zoo, heeding the advice of her cat and still working at 94

The novelist on why she loves marker pens, Post-it notes and notebooks – and why she is a ‘clucky, agenda-driven mother hen’

The award-winning author on morning rituals, the importance of a pleasant break at lunchtime and why she has not worked after dinner since 1968

The playwright and screenwriter on dilettante script editors, Bafta club bores and the simple truth about who should, and shouldn’t, be allowed to ‘improve’ your scripts

The Ghanaian-American novelist tries to recreate the feeling of working on her award-winning debut in ‘the dungeon’, a dank nook in her first apartment

The author of The Loney on his not-so-Scandi-neat study, why he feels guilty going for a walk and what humans will look like in a thousand years

The Costa award-winning author of The Lie Tree on why she has Nerf guns in her study and how the writing life is both isolating and liberating

On Bookshop Day, the owner of Scotland’s largest secondhand bookshop on dealing with tricky customers and how deaths are his biggest source of stock

The debut novelist, Booker-shortlisted for Elmet, on the joys of daydreaming, stationery and electric guitars

The Booker prizewinning novelist tries to fit in a couple of hours of writing a day, but she no longer feels guilty if she would rather be in the garden

The Man Booker-longlisted author on why she gave up writing in the early hours, the benefits of a good walk and why Twitter during work is a no-no

The bestselling author writes his novel in the morning, a play or column in the afternoon – and likes to sneak off to the cinema when nobody is looking

The award-winning writer, illustrator and designer on the joy of always having something to show at the end of each day

The novelist on the privilege of working from home, the benefits of eavesdropping and why he and his grandson love to play ‘throwing writers at the radiator’