"O: What are your rituals? What does your writing day look like—is every day a writing day?
TMG: I wish it was. I haven’t yet put my shoulder to the wheel on a new novel because it’s such a submersive process. You really have to ask yourself whether you want to submerge from the rest of life—for years sometimes. Because when you’re not writing the damn thing, you’re thinking about it all the time. And you’re looking at people through a haze, going, “oh yeah, your trip to Paris sounds like a fantastic time.” And they see right through you, so they begin to push off—and pretty soon you’re all alone with this fucking manuscript.
— Téa Obreht interviewing Thomas McGuane on “Not Living the Writer’s Life,” Lithub