18 Ian Rankin Quotes for You to Enjoy

Ian Rankin

Scottish Writer

Born: Apr 28, 1960

First Me Money Think Writing You

Related authors: Alexander McCall Smith Armando Iannucci Frances Wright Grant Morrison Henry Drummond John Burnside Robert Louis Stevenson Steven Moffat

My father worked in a grocery store. When the grocery chain went into administration, he eventually got a job in the naval dockyard in an office preparing the charts for the boats and the submarines before they headed out. Ian Rankin

Father Job Before Out Administration Charts He Headed Got Office Store Boats Worked Grocery Grocery Store Naval Chain Preparing Eventually

'Jekyll and Hyde' I read in high school. I was expecting a Hollywood-type horror story and couldn't believe it when I got this very complex narrative from all these different points of view. Ian Rankin

School Believe Complex High High School Horror Hyde Points Read Narrative Got Very Expecting Different Story View

The great thing about America is I always come back with more books and more tip-offs of who to read. It's a country in love with crime fiction. Ian Rankin

Love Great Crime Country Crime Fiction Back Books About More Come Great Thing Read Always America Fiction Who Thing

When I'm writing, I won't know whodunnit until maybe two thirds of the way through. Until then, I know as little as my detective. I just make it up as I go along. It's nerve-wracking, actually. You'll be half through and not know your conclusion. You worry one of these days the ending won't come. I'll be left with only two-thirds of a novel. Ian Rankin

You Writing Ending Half Worry Way Detective Only Through Along Days Come Know Until Make Conclusion Go Left Up Maybe Just Little Then Your Novel Actually Two Two-Thirds

Punk gave you a kind of chutzpah, so even trying to be a writer, I just thought, 'Well, I'm going to send poems to 'Radio Times,' short stories to the 'Observer,' just have a go. Ian Rankin

Being working class, my parents thought, 'Ian's going to uni, the first in the family,' and I'd do dentistry or accountancy. I was going to do accountancy; then I got a C in Economics and thought, 'Why am I doing this?' The only thing I was interested in was books and literature. Ian Rankin

I think writers have to be proactive: they've got to use new technology and social media. Yes, it's hard to get noticed by traditional publishers, but there's a great deal of opportunity out there if you've got the right story. Ian Rankin

Great You Technology Opportunity Social Media Great Deal Think Out Writers New Deal Got Traditional Yes Get New Technology Proactive Story Social Noticed Use Hard Media Publishers Right

Right from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to write palpably Scottish fiction. Ian Rankin

Beginning Write Knew Very Scottish Fiction Wanted Right

I'm interested in Scotland now and then, how it's changed. I want to get the reader to think about that by thinking about something from the past. How has society changed, how has policing changed, have we changed philosophically, psychologically, culturally, spiritually? Ian Rankin

I wrote my first short story for a competition and won second prize. Another competition came up and I won first prize. The first story was published in a newspaper. The second went out on radio. Ian Rankin

Competition First Out Wrote Another Came Up Won Prize Short Short Story Story Newspaper Radio Published Second

I took the first James Kelman novel, 'The Bus Conductor Hines', home to my dad. I thought, 'My dad will like this; it's written in Scots.' But my dad said: 'I can't read that.' He was reading James Bond and John le Carre. That was part of what attracted me to crime - the idea of getting a wide audience. Ian Rankin

Home Me Crime Will Thought First Reading Took John He Part Written Idea Like Attracted Read Audience Said Conductor Getting James James Bond Bus Novel Dad Wide Bond

The most difficult part of any crime novel is the plotting. It all begins simply enough, but soon you're dealing with a multitude of linked characters, strands, themes and red herrings - and you need to try to control these unruly elements and weave them into a pattern. Ian Rankin

You Try Crime Control Difficult Enough Characters Plotting Weave Unruly Part Simply Red Soon Most Dealing Linked Begins Any Pattern Them Themes Novel Elements Multitude Need

I don't think I have one particular favourite writer. I have many whose works I will always buy or reread - Muriel Spark, Anthony Powell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ruth Rendell, James Ellroy, William McIlvanney, Kate Atkinson, John Burnside, Louise Welsh, Iain Banks. Ian Rankin

I don't have many friends. It's not because I'm a misanthrope. It's because I'm reserved. I'm self-contained. I get all my adventures in my head when I'm writing my books. Ian Rankin

Writing Books Head Self-Contained Adventures Because Friends Get Many Reserved

I dunno whether it was to do with my parents - we were working-class - but it was important to me to be self-sufficient. Ian Rankin

Me Parents Important Were Self-Sufficient Whether Working-Class

I don't hang out with cops. Ian Rankin

Out Hang Cops

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