Ken Follett
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin "Ken" Follettis a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 150 million copies of his works. Many of his books have reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, including Edge of Eternity, Fall of Giants, The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, Winter of the World, and World Without End...
NationalityWelsh
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth5 June 1949
five minutes sit wake
I wake up with the story in my head, so I really like to be at my desk about five minutes after I wake up. So I don't get dressed. I put on a bathrobe, I make tea and sit at my desk.
books broke looking people push time wrote
Listen, I wrote 10 unsuccessful books before I broke through, so I'm looking all the time to keep my books fascinating. I want to write what people want to read, not push any message.
draw material war written
With the World War II era, there's so much written material to draw on. When you go back to the 14th century, you have to imagine more.
chapter characters great spend work year
I'm a great planner, so before I ever write chapter 1, I work out what happens in every chapter and who the characters are. I usually spend a year on the outline.
strong-women book hero
In my books, women often solve the problem. Even if the woman is not the hero, she's a strong character. She does change the plot. She'll often rescue the male character from some situation.
hands water littles
Trusting someone was like holding a little water in your cupped hands - it was so easy to spill the water, and you could never get it back.
lost-everything nothing-to-lose lost
When you've lost everything, you've got nothing to lose.
literary-genre thrillers century
The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century.
ruthlessness weakness defeated
In both cases, weakness and scruples had defeated strength and ruthlessness.
fun firsts research
The research is the easiest. The outline is the most fun. The first draft is the hardest, because every word of the outline has to be fleshed out. The rewrite is very satisfying.
editors people certain
After a certain point, most people, including editors, will tell you everything you do is great.
captains kind advertising
I wanted to be some kind of captain of industry. Then I wanted to be in advertising, and then I wanted to be a newspaper reporter.
glory aim glory-of-god
His aim was the glory of God, but the glory of Philip pleased him too.
writing cutting long
We all now tell stories by cutting from one dramatic scene to the next, whereas Victorian novelists felt free to write long passages of undramatic summary.