On coming to Dubai I have to say this is extraordinary for me and it's great to see so many people here at such an amazing setting. I am a little worried because I spoke to my family this evening and it is raining in London and I have given them the impression that being here is very hard work. I went to the town today and I thought I better make it up to them. I heard that Dubai is famous for it's gold and all I got for them so far was a box of dates. So I need to find another justification for taking off for five days and coming to this wonderful place.
On his blockbuster novel One Day It was published two and a half years ago and sometimes I feel guilty that I am still talking about it and that I should be talking about something else. But I am very proud of it and it came at a strange time in my career because my first novel did really well in the UK but it had a specific English cultural background so it didn't travel too well. My second book The Understudy, which was inspired by the time I spent as a failed actor, I am also pleased with it but it didn't do too well. So I felt like I was heading on a downward trajectory and I thought One Day would continue that, so this has been a great surprise. But I did love writing it, it is a personal book and something I am proud of. I had no expectations of any of this but it has been a great journey.
On screenwriting With screenwriting, structure is everything. I always encourage a screenwriter to work on the structure before the dialogue because the worst thing you can do is write a joke, or a line or description and cling to it. What you have to do is work out the structure of the story, then fill in the characters, dialogue and details.
On his former acting career I wasn't much of an actor. I was more like living furniture, if there was a gap in the stage they would put me there. In The Seagull I understudied Constantine but actually played a servant with long-johns with no shirt on. I had to run on stage every night and nod at Dame Judi Dench. So I have not really acted with Dame Judi Dench, I nodded at her. It was a disastrous career. But I got a book out of it (The Understudy). So it was not 10 years of misery.
The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is on until Saturday at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai, Festival City. For all event details, go to www.emirateslitfest.com
