Ian McEwan describes where and how he writes his novels. He tells how he sets out his plot chapter by chapter, and tells how his novel Atonement developed from a carelessly written sentence. This is an excerpt from Ian Katz's interview with McEwan at the Guardian's Open Weekend festival on 24 March 2012

Writing (Field Of Study)Ian McEwannovelGuardian Open WeekendThe Guardian (Newspaper)BookReadingBooksLibraryWritingAuthorthe guardianguardian