ALTHOUGH I work at home I'm quite disciplined, but that's got a lot to do with our children and how we simply have to have a routine for them. My wife Moira works part-time, so for the first part of the week I take the children to school, which I'm also quite involved in, as I'm on the school board and do creative writing with the pupils.

It's seven years since I gave up my job to concentrate full-time on writing, and my timing was truly awful as six weeks later we discovered Moira was pregnant. However, after two really hard years, things started to get better and they just continue to do so. I used to work all evening and through the night, but that's totally out of the question now, so I'm surprisingly good at sticking to nine to five.

My office is actually our gloomy back bedroom, and I spent a lot of time gazing out of the window, but I no longer feel guilty about that - I've decided it's part of a writer's job. So is talking aloud to my characters, but I still find that mortifying if the kids catch me at it.

My main temptation distracting me from my work is computer games, but on the whole I try to maintain some discipline or I'd never finish anything. Every so often things do pile up and I have to clear the decks, so I'll maybe go away for a week to do nothing but write.

This is quite a strange time because I've finished a novel which comes out next year, and I've also just completed a stint as Writer in Residence in Easterhouse, which was excellent. So theoretically I should have time on my hands.

It hasn't worked out that way because I'm finishing a play for next year's Festival for Borderline, and been commissioned by a Spanish company to do some work. Fortunately I speak Spanish, and we go there as often as possible.

When I'm really in the mood I can work all day without a break, and when Moira comes in I'll expect her to give me an honest reaction to what I've produced. That gives me a chance to throw tantrums and say ''you don't understand me'' but when I calm down I know she's right.

The worst thing about my work is accepting that I'll always be self-doubting, wondering if I can follow up every time, but the best thing is knowing that I'm getting a chance to say the things I want to. Sometimes I'm petrified waiting for reaction, but that doesn't stop me relaxing.

I play the fiddle and guitar, swim and play badminton, and if we can sustain this I'll be happy. Mind you, a back green would be nice, a place of my own to stand out in the rain and worry. And then again, after spending the evening with my family, nothing else seems important.

Joan McFadden