Ian Rankin Quotes

Quotes about:

Books Crime Reading Writing

I still think most writers are just kids who refuse to grow up. We're still playing imaginary games, with our imaginary friends.

Ian Rankin

Growing Up, Kids, Thinking

"Ian Rankin: 'I am, of course, a frustrated rock star'" by Euan Ferguson, www.theguardian.com. November 17, 2012.

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You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.

Ian Rankin

Ocean, Thinking, One Day

Ian Rankin (2006). “Blood Hunt”

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I used to think that: whenever I heard that someone had taken 10 years to write a novel, I'd think it must be a big, serious book. Now I think, 'No - it took you one year to write, and nine years to sit around eating Kit Kats.

Ian Rankin

Book, Taken, Writing

"Ian Rankin, author - portrait of the artist". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. December 11, 2012.

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At all times, think like a writer, and keep those antennae twitching - that way, you pick up new ideas.

Ian Rankin

Thinking, Ideas, Way

"Paperback Q&A: Ian Rankin on The Impossible Dead". www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2012.

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Rebus was eating breakfast in the canteen and wishing there was more caffeine in the coffee, or more coffee in the coffee come to that.

Ian Rankin

Coffee, Wish, Breakfast

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From this height the sleeping city seems like a child's construction, a model which has refused to be constrained by imagination. The volcanic plug might be black Plasticine, the castle balanced solidly atop it a skewed rendition of crenellated building bricks. The orange street lamps are crumpled toffee-wrappers glued to lollipop sticks.

Ian Rankin

Children, Sleep, Cities

Ian Rankin (2010). “Dead Souls: An Inspector Rebus Novel”, p.3, Macmillan

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I'm often asked how I write books, but I don't think my approach is suitable for everyone. If I walked into a creative writing class, all I could say to them was 'I tend to make it up as I go along.' I'm not sure that's brilliant advice.

Ian Rankin

Book, Writing, Thinking

"Paperback Q&A: Ian Rankin on The Impossible Dead". www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2012.

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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

Character, Crime Novels, Trying

"Paperback Q&A: Ian Rankin on The Impossible Dead". www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2012.

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I started writing novels while an undergraduate student, in an attempt to make sense of the city of Edinburgh, using a detective as my protagonist. Each book hopefully adds another piece to the jigsaw that is modern Scotland, asking questions about the nation's politics, economy, psyche and history ... and perhaps pointing towards its possible future.

Ian Rankin

Book, Writing, Asking Questions

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You need a great idea, but then you've got to carry it through. If you get it right, you're going to be a critical success. But not everyone who works hard gets it right, or has the success they deserve: there's an element of luck.

Ian Rankin

Hard Work, Ideas, Luck

"Ian Rankin, author - portrait of the artist". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. December 11, 2012.

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Witches never existed, except in people’s minds. All there was in the olden days was women and some men who believed in herbal cures and in folklore and in the wish to fly. Witches? We’re all witches in one way or another. Witches was the invention of mankind, son. We’re all witches beneath the skin.

Ian Rankin

Life, Son, Men

Ian Rankin (1986). “The flood”, P D Meany Pub

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No matter how many awards you've won or how many sales you've got, come the next book it's still a blank sheet of paper and you're still panicking like hell that you've got nothing new to say.

Ian Rankin

Book, Awards, Matter

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It was the laughter of birthdays, of money found in an old pocket.

Ian Rankin

Laughter, Pockets, Found

Ian Rankin (2014). “Knots and Crosses: An Inspector Rebus Novel”, p.9, Macmillan

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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

Thinking, Past, Scotland

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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

Book, Writing, Adventure

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A lot of writers, especially crime writers, have an image that we think we're trying to keep up with. You've got to be seen as dark and slightly dangerous. But I'm not like that and I've realised that I don't need to put that on. People will buy the books whether they see a photo of you dressed in black or not.

Ian Rankin

Book, Dark, Thinking

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A good album should be more than the sum of its parts.

Ian Rankin

Albums, Should, Holism

"Exit Music". Book by Ian Rankin, 2007.

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His eyes beheld beauty not in reality but in the printed word. Standing in the waiting-room, he realized that in his life he had accepted secondary experience -- the experience of reading someone else's thoughts -- over real life.

Ian Rankin

Life, Real, Reading

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Was it all inevitable, John?" Reeve was pushing his fingers across the floor of the cell, seated on his haunches. I was lying on the mattress. Yes," I said. "I think it was. Certainly, it's written that way. The end of the book is there before the beginning's hardly started.

Ian Rankin

Lying, Book, Thinking

Ian Rankin (2014). “Knots and Crosses: An Inspector Rebus Novel”, p.170, Macmillan

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I am, of course, a frustrated rock star - I'd much rather be a rock star than a writer. Or own a record shop. Still, it's not a bad life, is it? You just sit at a computer and make stuff up.

Ian Rankin

Stars, Rocks, Frustrated

"Ian Rankin: 'I am, of course, a frustrated rock star'" by Euan Ferguson, www.theguardian.com. November 17, 2012.

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My first novel was turned down by half a dozen publishers. And even after having published five or six books, I wasn't making enough money to live on, and was beginning to think I'd have to give up the dream of being a full-time writer.

Ian Rankin

Dream, Giving Up, Book

"Ian Rankin, author - portrait of the artist". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. December 11, 2012.

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War created bizarre allies, while peace itself could be divisive.

Ian Rankin

War, Allies, Bizarre

Ian Rankin (2006). “Blood Hunt”

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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, Radio, Firsts

"Gothic Scot". Interview with Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. March 17, 2001.

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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

Technology, Opportunity, Thinking

"Ian Rankin, author - portrait of the artist". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. December 11, 2012.

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I love short stories - reading and writing them. The best short stories distill all the potency of a novel into a small but heady draught. They are perfect reading material for the bus or train or for a lunchtime break. Everything extraneous has been strained off by the author. The best short stories pack the heft of any novel, yet resonate like poetry.

Ian Rankin

Short Love, Reading, Writing

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Born: April 28, 1960
Occupation: Crime writer
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