- Life
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- Nov 07, 2020
Alexander Mccall Smith Quotes
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- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Focus
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- Nov 07, 2020
I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.
- Creative
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- Nov 07, 2020
I've always had a creative urge and I get immense satisfaction from creating something because it feels like I'm making sense of the world and imposing order on it.
- Loss
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- Nov 07, 2020
A very powerful theme in fiction is that of loss.
- Just
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- Nov 07, 2020
There is this intimacy still in Botswana. It's a country of just under two million people, and there's this sense of connectedness, in that people tend to be related to one another.
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.
- Myself
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- Nov 07, 2020
With '44 Scotland Street' I found myself having to work out how a daily novel works, and it is completely different to a conventional novel.
- Know
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- Nov 07, 2020
Baboons take a bit of getting to know but, apparently, once you break the ice, so to speak, they are complex and interesting creatures with elaborate societies.
- Capable
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- Nov 07, 2020
I am capable of being idle.
- Blocks
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- Nov 07, 2020
Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society.
- Greater
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- Nov 07, 2020
The wider your readership, the greater the chances of offending your readers.
- Feel
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- Nov 07, 2020
Well, I'd say all of us are a combination of moods and emotions. In my day to day life I don't go around skipping, but at times one can feel sheer exhilarating joy at the world.
- Mind
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- Nov 07, 2020
As a writer I've learned certain lessons. One of them is to be careful about how you put a view, and to bear in mind how easily and readily you'll be misinterpreted.
- Life
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- Nov 07, 2020
That my philosophy of life is, as far as possible, one of enjoyment. I'm not nihilistic.
- Feelings
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- Nov 07, 2020
The local community is very important in one's life; the feelings of identification with a place and people.
- Mind
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- Nov 07, 2020
I'm very interested in tea. I wouldn't mind being involved in some aspect of the tea industry.
- Hook
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- Nov 07, 2020
Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader.
- Human
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- Nov 07, 2020
You do not have to ladle on the impasto to make a point about human frailty or ambitions.
- Positive
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- Nov 07, 2020
But you cannot expect every writer to dwell on human suffering. I think my books do deal with grave issues. People who say they are too positive probably haven't read them.
- Mine
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- Nov 07, 2020
Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or some sort of pathology, while mine present a slice that is more upbeat and affirmative.
- Paint
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- Nov 07, 2020
Painters aren't expected to paint bleak pictures, are they?
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
I think people in Botswana are pleased that my books paint a positive picture of their lives and portray the country as being very special. They've made a great success of their country, and the people are fed up with the constant reporting of only the problems and poverty of the continent. They welcome something which puts the positive side.
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
Wherever I go in the world, people all know about Scotland Street and are always asking me about what's going to happen to the characters next.
- Long
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- Nov 07, 2020
I would never inflict my bassoon on anybody really other than the long suffering audiences that come to the concerts of The Really Terrible Orchestra; which actually is really terrible.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
It seems to me that we're in danger of losing sight of certain basic civic values in society by allowing the growth of a whole generation of people who really have no sense of attachment to society.
- Good Picture
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- Nov 07, 2020
I've certainly always had a very high regard for Botswana and so I paint a very good picture of the country and I've never pretended to be painting an entirely realistic picture.
- Book
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- Nov 07, 2020
You're always told by your publisher that you must only write one book a year and some years you should perhaps write none at all.
- Man
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- Nov 07, 2020
My parents were very supportive and always encouraged us. My father was a gentle, nice man. My mother was quite a colorful character and a keen reader who encouraged me to write.
- Enjoy
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- Nov 07, 2020
Many of my books are written from a female perspective. I rather enjoy the take that women have on the world, and certainly I enjoy the conversations that women have.
- General
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- Nov 07, 2020
I have three older sisters, so we were a reasonably large family and, in general, a happy one.
- Look
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- Nov 07, 2020
I would certainly never consider myself a Renaissance Man; I'm not fit to look at the dust from the chariot wheels of many of those who have gone before me.
- Myself
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- Nov 07, 2020
Oh I love gadgets and I pride myself on keeping at the cutting edge of technology.
- Children
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- Nov 07, 2020
I've also long since realized that the way to really engage children is to give out prizes; it's amazing how it concentrates their minds.
- Edinburgh
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- Nov 07, 2020
Edinburgh used to be a haughty city.
- Just
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- Nov 07, 2020
Writing fiction, I really just sit there and it just comes.
- Encompass
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- Nov 07, 2020
Fiction is able to encompass books that are bleak and which dwell on the manifold and terrible problems of our times. But I don't think that all books need to have that particular focus.
- Picture
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- Nov 07, 2020
My Botswana books are positive, and I've never really sought to deny that. They are positive. They present a very positive picture of the country. And I think that that is perfectly defensible given that there is so much written about Africa which is entirely negative.
- Diamonds
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- Nov 07, 2020
Botswana is actually very peaceful. It's democratic. It never was in debt. They've been fortunate, they've had diamonds.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
As a writer, I have readers who will have a range of political views. I don't think they look to me for political guidance.
- Day
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- Nov 07, 2020