Dave Clark Quotes

Quite often, little germs of ideas have come from something that I've observed or someone's told me. The process of it becoming fiction is expanding and extending it: stretching the rubber band of reality.

Obviously, I love to do both contemporary and historical fiction. When a hint of a story grabs me, I try to go with it to see where it will take me whatever the setting.

As a novelist, you could say that I am dreaming while I am awake, and every day I can continue with yesterday's dream. Because it is a dream, there are so many contradictions and I have to adjust them to make the story work. But, in principle, the original dream does not change.

I think there is often a 'what if' proposition that gets me thinking about all my novels.

When I write, I get glimpses into future novels.

A work of fiction is conceived very much the same way as a dream occurs in the mind of a sleeper. But a lot of it is imagination. It's not based on real people.

I'm a great believer in gathering together all your obsessions and seeing if you can make a novel out of them.

A book begins with an image or character or situation that I care about deeply.

I get ideas for my books from people I know and what happens to them, from places I've been and what happens to me, and from things I read.

I start with a character and a situation, but I don't know what's going to happen until I write it. Sometimes things happen that surprise me.

I always start from scratch with a character - they're never based on anyone else. You get ideas of what people look like, and I'm a great people watcher. You can draw inspiration from people.

When you do fiction, it is your imagination you have put out there.

Whenever I write a novel, most of the time it starts with barest slip of an idea.

I think the most rewarding part for me is kind of not knowing where the story's going next, and then finding out and being blown away by it.

I'm always excited about stories that allow me to explore a character and create interesting stories and worlds that we haven't seen before.

Once I have a story idea I like it doesn't even matter to me what genre it is, I'm just so happy to have one.

It is very enjoyable, writing a story. You get this idea. It takes hold of you. And then you spend day and night thinking about how to do it. And then you do it. And much later, you think, 'Oh, yes. That's an interesting question.'

What interests me in writing a novel is taking really remote voices, characters, and stories and beginning to create some kind of web.

For me, inspiration isn't a sort of spark which lights the fire of the story. It's more like a thread, one of many, which you can tease out of a story once it's written, if you feel so inclined.

'The Lake of Dreams' grew gradually, over many years, elements and ideas accruing until they gained enough critical mass to become a novel.

I think writers are observers and watchers. We always have our ears open and eyes open, so I might see something in everyday life that inspires me. And I think that's probably more than anything else. Everyday life is where I get my inspiration.

I am not an analytical writer. Once I flesh out my characters and decide on the elements of my plot, the story unfolds in my head almost as though it was a movie reel.

With a novel, there is no hurrying it. You're constantly walking into the unknown.

I don't stare at a sheet of paper and try to think of a good word to use. I try to see where the story should go.

Being a novelist is the adult version of a kid creating a make-believe world. But unlike a child, a writer of fiction has to come up with a structured story, one that has as much meaning for others as it has for her.