Ask the Author: Michael Ridpath
Answered Questions (5)
Michael Ridpath
Yes! I'm working on a new Magnus book now. I've done most of the research (apart from visiting Iceland - that's a problem) and most of the planning. May start writing in December. But it probably won't be published until 2022.
Michael Ridpath
The honest answer is I can't think of a single fictional couple off the top of my head outside TV, especially if you exclude master and sidekick. Struggling to find one and then claiming it is your favourite doesn't sound right to me. I think that in itself is interesting: settled couples don't make for good stories.
Michael Ridpath
- Write something you enjoy writing, not something you think other people would enjoy reading.
- Spend a lot of time and effort rewriting. That’s how you learn. So the more you rewrite, the more you learn.
- Spend a lot of time and effort rewriting. That’s how you learn. So the more you rewrite, the more you learn.
Michael Ridpath
One thing I don’t do is take the day, or the week or the month off. Writer’s block is your sub-conscious telling you there is something wrong with the story you are trying to write. The solution often relies on the premises or decisions you have already taken, so I often go back and question those. Another technique is to write down the problem that is troubling me as a question, and then do something else for a couple of days and write down the answer.
Michael Ridpath
Interesting question! They both require different forms of research. Iceland involved visiting places and talking to people, but not a lot of reading. There is a limited amount of books about Iceland or novels set there in English. If you ask them in the right way, Icelanders can be extremely helpful.
On the other hand, while I visited Berlin, it looks much different than it had in 1938-40. And while I spoke to some Germans, they were not their grandparents. But there are lots of books published about Germany at the beginning of then war. Obscure memoirs were particularly useful: I read a great description of a Prussian wedding in Alexander Stahlberg’s memoirs, for example, which I drew on in Traitor’s Gate. The problem is that I have to note down every inconsequential detail about daily life and then index them all.
So, to answer your question, Germany set in the past was harder, because of the volume of reading, note taking and indexing.
On the other hand, while I visited Berlin, it looks much different than it had in 1938-40. And while I spoke to some Germans, they were not their grandparents. But there are lots of books published about Germany at the beginning of then war. Obscure memoirs were particularly useful: I read a great description of a Prussian wedding in Alexander Stahlberg’s memoirs, for example, which I drew on in Traitor’s Gate. The problem is that I have to note down every inconsequential detail about daily life and then index them all.
So, to answer your question, Germany set in the past was harder, because of the volume of reading, note taking and indexing.
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