Unlike life, you've got more or less complete control over what's going on in your stories. That's not to say you can make characters do whatever you want them to - they usually have a life of their own if you've done your job properly. Paul Kane More Quotes by Paul Kane More Quotes From Paul Kane As for goals, I don't set myself those anymore. I'm not one of these 'I must have achieved this and that by next year' kind of writers. I take things as they come and find that patience and persistence tend to win out in the end. Paul Kane persistence winning patience I'm fortunate in that I'm a lecturer too and this gets me out and about and away from the computer. I also have loads of friends all around the world, plus a core group of special people in my life that I can lean on, chat to, or just hang with. Paul Kane special-people groups world My most intimate secrets? Well, if I told you those they wouldn't be secrets now, would they? Seriously though I don't have too many secrets. I'm a very open and honest person, sometimes too honest for my own good. Paul Kane honest secret sometimes Sometimes I'll hear a phrase or a word and write it down in my little black notebook (a writer's best mate), then come back to it and work a plot around it. Paul Kane notebook black writing The joy of painting lies precisely in the challenge of memory and the challenge of translation from the lived experience to the two-dimensional or three-dimensional symbol. Paul Kane memories two lying Painting is a matter of finding the right balance between consoling and reassuring the eye and challenging and disturbing the eye. Paul Kane balance eye challenges Photos represent primarily a seductive but deleterious short cut. Paul Kane seductive cutting photography The face of totalitarianism turned out to be a mask - obviously - but the face of Capitalism has no face at all. Paul Kane mask politics faces Considering the amount of work I put into each piece, the amount I need to make from it is pretty high. I won't sell for less... but that means I rarely sell. Paul Kane pieces mean needs I don't know anyone who actually likes the dark or night-time. I don't care how much they say it doesn't bother them. That's why we used to huddle in caves and light fires when the sun went down. Paul Kane fire dark night I can look back at stuff I wrote in my early days and squirm at some of the mistakes I made. But we're all learning every day; we never stop. I just hope people keep on liking what I do. That gives me such a kick. Paul Kane mistake giving people Writing can be a very solitary business. It's you sat at a desk typing words into a computer. It can get lonely sometimes and lots of writers live quite isolated lives. Paul Kane computer lonely writing I love a good laugh as well, I think that's so important in life, which is probably why I've dabbled in comedy writing as well as horror. I think if you can make someone laugh or smile it's the most special thing in the world. Paul Kane smile happiness love Having said that, I'm a huge Jack Nicholson fan because he just goes nuts in everything he does. Having Jack in his heyday would also be a dream come true. Paul Kane heyday nuts dream It was relatively easy to write 'The Cave of Lost Souls', though, because it came to me one night in a dream. I remember waking up and having this idea for a complete story - from start to finish - in my head, so I jotted it down, then later began writing the thing. Paul Kane dream writing night I believe that, like most writers, my personality comes through in the fiction. So in that respect my writing can’t be like any other author’s really. Paul Kane personality writing believe Some writers would be kinder than others, I'm sure. Hopefully they might describe my techniques as a mixture of tried and tested formulas - if it aint broke don't fix it - and unexpected twists. Paul Kane twists technique would-be It's not just that toil allows the appearance of spontaneity. It allows the actuality of spontaneity. Paul Kane toil spontaneity appearance This sort of encouragement is vital for any writer. And lastly the publication of Touching the Flame, which was on hold for two years and went through a few publishers before finding a stable home. Paul Kane flames encouragement home Because I'm such a creative person, and I've always got my nose in a book, I suppose it was only a matter of time before non-fiction turned into fiction again. But I never consciously set out to become a writer and I never thought I'd be doing the things I'm doing today. Paul Kane creative writing book
