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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Customs of the mind
My most important habit has been good organisation, and I wouldn't have been able to achieve anything had I not set aside particular times for writing in the middle of all of life's preoccupations. I see writing as nine parts discipline and one part talent -- the old inspiration and perspiration story, perhaps. It was always very important for me to write every day -- a question of not losing the habit.
For many years, there was my job as a civil servant, which occupied half the day, but the second half I spent reading and writing. It is necessary to spend some time every day immersed in one's craft. Reading words written by others is often just as important as writing oneself. Then again, I also set aside time for friends -- that is something to which I have always attached a great deal of importance. They took up the better part of the evening, after everyone was finished with their duties and responsibilities for the day.
I was not alone in being subject to that schedule, but what you could call my inspiration was strictly regimented too. Only at the time set aside for writing would I be ready to receive the tidings of my muse. Of course, in some cases I would sit for hours, pen in hand, sheet of paper on the table, and nothing would come to me. But in most cases I managed to fill the pages with writing.
No, I have never written anything in cafés, except for the details of some film scripts; all my literary works I composed during the hours of the day set aside for writing in my study.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
