Mark Haddon

Novelist Mark Haddon takes his audience through his idea of a writing workshop, by marking numerous dots on a white sheet – each one representing a potential turning point in someone's life. On that white sheet, he explains, there are "an infinite number of novels". But, the question he poses, is "how do we connect the plane crash with the triplets?"

Haddon is interested in this space between the big events, the dark sky between the stars which is full of particles of soot, where the chaos of things and thoughts - and their endless associational travels - can reign supreme. He thinks that the writer's job is perhaps more about creating gaps for readers to fill in themselves. And the question must always be: is the reader entertained? "All writers realise eventually, although some tragically forget, that it's not about you. You have to make yourself small, you have to disappear." The plane crash and the triplets will find a way to come together without you.