Writers have to keep on expanding their lives, because their stories constantly consume them.

This describes perfectly Michael Hyde’s approach to writing. Cleaning hospitals and morgues, driving trucks, living in foreign countries, travelling (which he continues to do) and, now, teaching in schools and universities has provided Michael with so much material he thinks he’ll go to his grave with hundreds of stories still unwritten.

When I first began writing, after a few short stories I started to panic and wonder where writers got their ideas. It took me a while to realise that most of our stories are sitting there right under our noses.

In the early seventies Michael found himself teaching kids who had difficulty with reading and writing.

They were always telling each other stories from their lives – sports stories, trouble at home, running from the cops . . . So I decided to get them to write them down. Because they loved stories but were afraid of reading and writing, it seemed the obvious thing to do.

But something else happened. Michael discovered that as he taught writing he came more to understand the craft. He’d take his drafts to his students and ask them for suggestions.

Over the next twenty-five years my students became my teachers – and many of them continued to write after they left school.

Michael believes writing belongs to us all and that there is a reason why stories have been told since the beginning of time.

They help us understand the world we live in. Through stories, readers and writers sift through the ups and downs which in turn help them to keep on going.

Whether he’s writing text books, sports books, CD-ROMs or novels (his recent novel Max went into reprint after 12 months) Michael always feels like he’s living in a sea of stories.