Ask the Author: Ian Kingsley
Answered Questions (6)
Ian Kingsley
Assuming you've already started a novel, then just ask yourself 'What if?' in every scene you've written until something new and wonderful hits you. Then you're off again! If you've note even started anything, then why not check out film review summaries in TV papers for the germ of a plot idea? I'm not talking about copying anything here, only in the most fundamental seeds of ideas. You can then build on something, but put in a lot of change. I've never had to do this, but I offer it as a possible solution if you don’t know what to write. You should always be seeking a new angle, so that’s worth a lot of pondering. Then, of course, there’s the newspapers. There are a lot of seeds to be found in those. If one excites you, write it down in a notebook. It could be the seed that will propagate into a new novel in many years’ time!
Ian Kingsley
You can please yourself what - and when - you write. Obviously! But that also means you have to be really organised and plan what you are going to produce. Do it efficiently. The worst thing is that ‘being a writer' doesn't pay the bills any more than 'being an actor' does. And at least an actor knows he'll get paid if he gets a part, whereas an author sails into the unknown for a year or more - without a promise of landfall!
Ian Kingsley
Only write fiction if you are 'driven' to do so. Don't do it thinking about financial rewards or fame. Non-fiction is more likely to bring profits - if you know your stuff. But, even there, don't give up the day job! Finding literary agents is as uphill these days as finding a publisher. This is one of the toughest jobs there is, so don't be disillusioned, even if your writing is great. The best bit of advice I can offer the aspiring novelist is not to get caught up in sole submissions. Too often an agent will only respond months later, and often only then with the minimum possible words, so you can while away your life with sole submissions. Tell them it is not a sole submission. If your aim is to see your work in physical books, still have a Plan B: the eBook! If all else fails, that gives you an outlet.
Ian Kingsley
'The Grave Concerns of Jennifer Lloyd' is my latest thriller, out March 2016, so all my focus is on supporting that at present. Sadly, there's a lot more to writing than just creating the stories.
Ian Kingsley
I have always needed to write, even from a young age. My first non-fiction works were published while still at school, and although my career began in research and electronics design, I soon married this technological interest with writing manuals for the army and navy as a technical author and the a technical publications manager. By then I was a chartered engineer and had published a number of technical books inspired by my work (written under a different name) on subjects as varied as semiconductor physics to digital design. I have also written books with a philosophical slant, as my website shows. The aim of these is usually to demonstrate that religion and science are complementary, not contradictory. But fiction was always the aim, although it took me a long while to get there. My first novel, ‘Sandman’, was published in 2010.
Ian Kingsley
By pondering on interesting scenarios. If a glimmer of an idea comes from any of these I then mull it over for months before deciding if it has legs!
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