December 2, 2015

Wednesday Writing Wisdom (36) Ken Follett



The toughest part of the whole process is going from the outline to the first draft.
When you are writing the outline you can do anything from changing the gender of a character to resetting the whole thing in Egypt. You are all-powerful. After you have made those decisions, you come to the stage where each sentence in our outline has to be turned into four or five pages of prose. This is where the real imaginative work comes in. You have to take your ideas and you have to walk people in and out of the room, you have to describe the room and the clothes they are wearing and you have to make the reader share their anxieties, hopes, triumphs and their romantic feelings.




Ken Follett

(June 5, 1949)
Curious facts about:


He was prohibited from watching television or movies as a child and spent much of his time reading. 


He went on to study philosophy at University College London in the late 1960s. His interest in philosophy stemmed from the agonizing conflict he had over whether or not he believed in his parents' religion. In the end, he completely rejected it. He ended up being the absolute opposite of his parents. 



A Welsh author, he is best known for writing popular thrillers such as Eye of the Needle, Fall of Giants, The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, and World Without End. Many of his New York Times bestselling novels have been adapted into films.

4 comments:

  1. A very interesting author and thanks for highlighting him, Carmen. i find it interesting he wasn't allowed TV as a child and I suspect that left his imagination to develop more powerfully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes it is for the better. When I was a child there was no television here and as such my favorite pastime was reading, reading and reading!
      A great writer, in my opinion. I so much enjoyed Eye of the Needle, the first book I read.

      Delete
  2. Oh, I love his stuff. My favorite novel of his is a lesser known one (and I'm drawing a blank on the title right now...drat), but he's a great author to showcase! P.S....sorry for the late response. I'm playing catch-up :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't worry! It happens to me, too. Both forgetting the name and being late in response.
      I also read more books written by Follett but Eye of the needle was the first and somehow stayed stuck to my brain!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.