Through his desire he has developed a conscience. It was so unexpected that I was initially dumbfounded. He smiles, somewhat embarrassed. This is why one writes. That moment when one looks in utter astonishment at what one has written.
Brink confesses to being an obsessive planner and notekeeper.
He makes notes of things he reads, hears and thinks, even while working on a particular book, in order to be able to return to sub-themes later. A story usually begins with an incident or a place. If by the end of the first chapter I am still with my original plan, then I am worried. When he is into a story he writes morning, noon and night. Since he started to translate Kennis van die Aand in an attempt to bypass the ban on the book, Brink works in both Afrikaans and English.