A friend recently reminded me of an expression I used when people asked me how I managed to complete my novel after seven years.'You mean,B.O.S?I said.'Bum on seat!'She laughed, 'It says it all.'

It's not the most eloquent of expressions (nor can I lay claim to it)but it does get to the point. Quite simply, it means turning up to the page (or whatever it is you want to achieve) and discarding the rest.

Paula Hawkins was a financial journalist andwrote four romance novels under a pseudonym befo...