Ask the Author: Jimmy Thomson
Answered Questions (6)
Jimmy Thomson
I got the idea for Perfect Criminals from wondering if the "perfect crime" described in the novel was possible. From there I added ideas from other aspects of my writing - my own experiences in TV and the stories I had heard from real Army Engineers - to build the characters. Once I had the characters, the story started to evolve.
Jimmy Thomson
Never really suffered it but when I get wheelspin in a story, I just go and write something completely different and then come back to it. Robert McKee, the author of the screenwriting bible 'Story', recommends consciously thinking about the issue that is blocking you before you go to sleep. Often, the first thought you have the next day will be the answer to your problem. Gym and cycling also help to work out tangled storylines.
Jimmy Thomson
It's the closest you will ever be to playing God. All those arguments you lost because you didn't think of the killer witty line, now you can replay them and win. All the people who have ever done you any harm, you can make their fictional lives Hell even if you can't touch them in the real world. And you get to work in your pyjamas.
Jimmy Thomson
Write. Nothing makes you a better writer than writing. And when you're not writing read - especially in the genre you aspire to be published in.
Jimmy Thomson
A thriller set around stolen artefacts from the various wars in the Middle East.
Jimmy Thomson
I am constantly thinking of potential stories, partly through my other work as a journalist. Some of those ideas stick around for further mulling. Occasionally one or two make iot to the keyboard.
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