CRIME AUTHORS SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT WRITING...
John Bowen: "You’re searching for emotional touchstones you can connect with to write them honestly."
June Taylor: "It does take luck in the end, but you have to seek out where that luck is going to come from."
Sarah Hilary: "I don’t plot. I’ve tried to, and it bores me."
Louise Beech: "If you write for any other reason than enjoying it, you'll not be able to cope with all the rejections and criticism."
David Young: "Cast against type – to try to avoid stereotypical characters."
Louise Mullins: "Beautiful Liar was exhilarating [to write] because his psychopathic personality seemed to jump from the page."
Jack Steele: "If you set out to do something without distraction then you can achieve it."
Shalini Boland: "I usually fall ill after I release a book as I put so much of myself into each one."
Peter Swanson: "I usually have a very bad moment about halfway through writing a book when I’ve painted myself into some unpleasant corner."
Alison Baillie: "I always feel inspired when I can walk along a deserted beach and hear the waves and smell the sea air."
Jessica Norrie: "It made me cry when I was writing it, so I knew it must be good."
Christina Philippou: "I love authors that drip-feed you information and peel back the layers one by one."
Tara Lyons: "Facebook book clubs & bloggers have been invaluable in helping me become a bestselling author."
Fiona Cummins: "Talent is all very well but tenacity, self-belief, originality and the ability to get the words on the page are just as important."
Louise Jensen: "Sometimes writing with no idea of where I’m going is utterly terrifying."
Alan Jones: "I don't know where I would be without the enthusiastic help of book bloggers."
Cass Green: "Every time I finish a book I get the feeling that I will never have an idea for another."
J.A. Corrigan: "Believe in yourself, & don’t allow either triumphs or disasters to affect you too much."
Tom Bale: "If you’re a writer, you can be lying in bed with your eyes shut and still be working."
B.A. Paris: "Not letting the pace flag is something I try to keep in mind when I’m writing."
Harry Bingham: "Do you know what? I hate writing tips. I think they’re so often a load of rubbish."
Sam Carrington: "Even though I’d had the end in mind since the beginning, it actually changed when I came to write it."
Liz Mistry: "Writing gives you an excuse to delve into the darkest parts of your mind."
Mary Jane Riley: "There is no room for waffle in this genre. I try never to use three words when one will do."
Rob Sinclair: "Write the slow stuff fast, and the fast stuff slow."
Betsy Reavley: "The characters come to life in my head and I let them lead the way."
William Shaw: "I’ll be honest; what I wrote for years just wasn’t good enough."
Mel Sherratt: "If I'd given up after writing the first draft of the first book, I wouldn't be now writing my twelfth novel."
Robin Roughley: "Listen to readers. They're the best judge of what works & what doesn't."
Jane Lythell: "Sometimes a scene seems very important to invent. It’s as if it won’t be silenced."
A.J. Waines: "Writing seems to be a massive roller-coaster ride with great surges forward followed by terrible disappointments."
Angie Marsons: "I like the story to grow organically from chapter to chapter."
Nicky Black: "Don't get it right, get it written."
Robert Bryndza: "Before I go to sleep I write a page of notes detailing what I should write the next day."
S.D. Sykes: "You have to sit at your desk and write. Even on days when you don't feel like it!"
David Videcette: "I'm a big fan of detailed character biographies."
Lesley Tither: "I tend to write in my head while walking."
