An Interview with Campbell Armstrong

Campbell Armstrong is a published Scottish writer. He is the author of many bestselling international thrillers and has a degree in philosophy. He has even taught creative writing. Campbell Armstrong disliked teaching so much, he devoted his time to writing full time and began to get his novels published. Not only is he a thriller writer, but Campbell Armstrong is also working on writing plays for the theatre.

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

When I was six years old.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

No, I used to try and write TV plays but I couldn't get them to the people that mattered. I always handed them to the doorman at the BBC, and never learned what happened after that...I was only 17/18.

How did you finally get published? When were you able to write on a full time basis? Please explain your success story?

I wrote a first novel called Assassins and Victims in 1968 and it got some very good reviews, I had a sympathetic editor too. After that my second book got bummer reviews. My third was just so-so....Then in the mid 1980s I wrote a long thriller called JIG which went on to the best-selling lists. So much of this is just luck and timing. It's a lottery. Who knows what book will succeed and what will fail?

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel? How do you stay focused?

It gets harder. For one thing, so many things crop up to seize your attention away from the book - and you actually start looking forward to these distractions. Motivation slips, and so does enthusiasm, but you always get back into it sooner or later. I don't think I could focus on a book and nothing but a book. There are too many things in the world demanding attention away from writing a novel....for instance, I've become interested in writing for the stage - so that was a distraction. For another, the financial rewards aren't great in these times. I know we should be talking about books and money is vulgar - but every writer I’ve ever met always talks about two things. Money is one. The value of his/her agent is another. And the state of the parlous times we live in is a huge distraction....a lot of creative urges dissipate themselves in the anger you feel about bankers, politicians, pointless wars...and the pity you feel for those who have been shafted.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write in the mornings, evenings, and for how long?

I write at different hours. Usually a few hours in the morning and more at night. I may do two to four hours in the evening. It varies. I'm not well-disciplined.

How do you get your ideas? What is your method for remembering them?

Oh the hardest question! They come in dreams, idle thoughts, or what-if moments, when you wonder what it would be like, for example, to go suddenly blind, how would that feel? How would a character struck blind react to the world? Things like that. They don't often turn into books, but sometimes they appear one way or another as characters....I don't analyze the source of these things. They just occur.

How do you get over writer's block?

Never had it. Touch wood. Can't afford it.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a writer? What is a good starting point for them?

Reading good novels. Reading any kind of good writing. And also having a general air of wonderment at the world around you...and a heart for your characters.

To find out more about Campbell Armstrong and his published work, go to the official Campbell Armstrong website.