Once I have a hook I think has potential - enough to spin out more than a hundred thousand words, then I start turning my attention to characters. Who are these people? Why did this thing happen to them? But the hook always comes first. Linwood Barclay attentioncharacterhappen share on social
These days, my subjects are murder and mayhem and other terrible things that happen to people - things that are even worse than cutting yourself shaving. And these are not the sorts of things you feel the need to experience before you write about them. Linwood Barclay badlycutday share on social
Some authors, when starting a novel, imagine a place first. Others, a character starts taking shape in their head. I start with a hook, a situation, a 'what if.' Linwood Barclay authorcharacterhead Change image and share on social
Crime fiction makes money. It may be harder for writers to get published, but crime is doing better than most of what we like to call CanLit. It's elementary, plot-driven, character-rich story-telling at its best. Linwood Barclay callcanlitcharacter share on social
It's one thing, holding open the door for someone at a grocery store, or the library, or just about anyplace else. But the doughnut shop is a different thing altogether. This is a get-in-and-out-as-fast-as-you-can operation. There's no room for courtesy or chivalry here. Linwood Barclay altogetheranyplacechivalry share on social
Even if I couldn't get my early novels published, I could still write. I went into newspapers, where I got paid to write every day. If there's a better school for would-be novelists, I don't know what it is. Linwood Barclay dayearlynewspaper share on social
Once you come up with a premise, you have to work out how it all happened. It's a bit like coming up with a spectacular roof design first. Before you can get it up there, you need to build a solid foundation and supporting structure. Linwood Barclay bitebuildcome share on social
We're half an hour from Toronto, which offers everything you could want from a city, and a couple of hours from beautiful vacation country. We have it all here, plus George W. Bush is not our president. Linwood Barclay beautifulbushcity share on social
I was filling entire school notebooks with stories by Grade 3. Of course, they were double-spaced, and the handwriting was huge. Linwood Barclay doubleentirefill Change image and share on social
My life isn't much different than when I worked full time as a journalist. Linwood Barclay fulljournalistlife Change image and share on social
