So, said Rankin, when he's writing a novel he can end up with 3 to 4 bodies before he knows it, adding quickly that he didn't recommend this type of crime writing, although he has fun writing it. He described it as 'mayhem around you in the armchair' and that themes and characters are the most interesting bits for him.
He believes that each generation of writers and readers brings something new to the crime novel. 'Why do people keep doing bad things to one another?' he asked. He also believes that if you want to find out about 9/11 terrorism, you can find it in good crime fiction. Thus, he described it as 'such a thrill' to be at Cardiff University that evening, as 'slowly, slowly, slowly crime fiction starts to be taken seriously'. But when it comes to the Booker prize, he suspects that it will be the next generation and not his that might have a chance of that recognition.
Rankin faced a big problem in that he 'got rid of Rebus'; so what to write next? More crime fiction? A thriller? Historical romance? Or opera? He acknowledged that success brings freedom and appeared to revel in the prospect. In his mind, in Great Britain at the moment, especially Scotland there is cross-fertilisation and mixing going on across the arts, e.g. literary festivals and musicians. Had he thought of opera? Had he thought of comics?
Indeed, he's just handed in a one-off comic book (set in hell) to DC Comics in the US. He's also written a series for the New York Times. For him, there is life beyond Rebus, although he still things to say about Edinburgh and Rebus was a useful tool for unpicking Edinburgh society. He described himself as a full time writer and 'bizarrely, getting paid well for it'.
Then Rankin went on to shed some light on writers and the writing world. Writers, he declared - and proving none of his assertion on this particular occasion - are more often the opposite of gregarious and outgoing. He discusses this with a bunch of writers he meets in Edinburgh periodically, which includes Iain Banks/Iain M Banks. They still feel like teenagers as they have imaginary friends who inhabit their minds and they play games in their heads.
Uppermost in Rankin's mind when it came such games and playfulness was the G8 summit in Edinburgh. His whole premise was to have Rebus as the one who bumps into George Bush and makes him fall off his bicycle. He then added that this was 'terrible, reductive'. He'd 'wanted to have a dig at Bono too'.
Readers, said Rankin, question events like Lockerbie and Dunblane and he can now imagine contemporary crime writers taking on such big issues.
He referred to the TV series he presented on evil back in 2002: 'Ian Rankin's Evil Thoughts' for Channel 4. He said that people often think that crime writers are detectives. More lately, he had moved house and the area had its first murder for some 40 years; the media, to his surprise, asked him for a comment. He was working on Fleshmarket Close at the time and discreetly visited the crime scene for research purposes. But he had been spotted. The next day, said Rankin, The Sun carried a headline 'Ghoulish author visits murder scene'.
Rankin explained why he 'feels sorry for fans who make it to Edinburgh'. They do the Rebus Walking Tour and end up at The Oxford Bar, only to see the author and not Rebus. But on the final note before taking questions, Rankin stated that Rebus would see him as a 'wishy washy liberal' and 'would have no truck for' his creator.
Q&As:
Someone saw similarities between Rankin and Ruth Rendell who walks through London to get her settings. Rankin said she was one of, if not the favourite crime writer of his, adding that she 'doesn't give much away'. When he interviewed her at the Edinburgh Festival and pointed out that there was little information forthcoming, she replied 'No. Let's keep it that way'.
One asked if Rankin had a picture of Rebus in his mind? This brought a categorical 'no' in response. For the 20th anniversary of the Rebus novels, Rankin had to re-read them to write the introductions and this confirmed the fact. He wanted to allow readers to put their own ideas of faces there. In the casting for TV, the BBC originally had the rights and the Head of Drama asked Rankin what Rebus looked like. 'Don't know' said Rankin. 'We're thinking of Robbie Coltrane' was the reply. Rankin could only wonder at the flashbacks to Rebus's army training... Then, popular Scottish actor and producer John Hannah's production company gained the rights. Popular as he was, ITV made Hannah play the detective. Like many fans of the series, Rankin thought Hannah 'a bit too young'. Finally, Rankin declared that he once thought actor Brian Cox perfect for the part, but then he met him and thought 'no'.
A member of the audience had recently been watching 'Trial and Retribution' from Lynda La Plante on TV. Her stories are based on fact. So, did Rankin research at all? For anything? Well, yes: [he'd already said so earlier], but his response was to confirm 'I do do research'. He then elaborated that he waits until the theme of the plot is sketched out, where the Rebus novels usually begin with 'something that's happened'. Rankin reads something in the paper or hears a story and wonders 'What if?' It could be a friend telling him something has happened as with 'Black and Blue', where a friend visited him in France and told him a story about something that happened to her brother: abducted and tied to a chair, with plastic over his head. To the friend it was the end of the story, but to Rankin it was the beginning of the story, albeit a now fictional one. In reply he concluded: 'Crime fiction makes sense of loss of order'.
A question came up in respect of the comic (graphic) novel Rankin has created. He replied that Denise Mina had done it before him and took pictures of the backdrops. Alas, 'Since mine is set in hell, I couldn't do it' added Rankin. He also stated that where every (visual) artist can change the character 'a bit', the editor was at pains to remind him 'Be careful you don't change his voice'.
Someone asked about music in books. 'Like a lot of crime writers, I'm a failed musician' claimed Rankin. He believes music says a lot about a person and likes to look at others' collections: their records and CDs, with iPODs not being quite the same thrill. Rankin had only been in Cardiff for a few hours, but he'd already bought a few CDs.
What does Rankin read? 'Pretty much anything' was his reply. He'd recently picked up a novel that featured Richard Burton on the cover. He saw non-fiction about London in the 50s and 60s gaining momentum. He receives a lot of books, but doesn't have the time to read them all. He does read Michael Connelly, Pelecanos, Kathy Reichs, Laura Lippman and added that there is lots of good writing from many countries, including in translation.
Rankin was asked if the crime novel makes the real world worse or better? To which he replied that 'the world is a dangerous place'. He added that the trend is that crime fiction tends not to come from places where there is ongoing conflict. In this vein, he noted that (Colin) Batemen had introduced satire.
So why do people do bad things, someone asked? Basically, Rankin hit the ever-loading neb of the matter, concentrating on the 'what we know' and 'what we don't appreciate yet'. He asserted that one psychologist may express 'frontal lobe damage at birth' leading to serial killer domain, but another may site behavioural tendencies as leading to the best of what we see as successful 'entrepreneurs'.
Rankin was then asked what kind of picture emerges for the modern Scot with the Rebus novels? Rankin took his 'character' of Edinburgh as opposed to Rebus and replied 'A city in flux'. Where 'Exit Music' may have been the end of the Rebus series, Edinburgh and Scotland still have lives with many questions to be answered. 'Where are we going now we have our own parliament?' asked Rankin. What of the debate on devolution? For Rankin, there are many debates to be had and many alternatives to explore. In the writing of Alexander McCall Smith Scotland is a gentler country. Through the eyes of writer Irvine Welsh it's a scabrous view. There are 'multitudinous ways of looking at it' said Rankin, 'different versions'.
Rankin was then asked how he disciplines himself when writing. Essentially it was this: Deadlines. Panic. Gets ideas. Then writes. He feels the crime story lends itself to the writing where you start with a murder scene, then the police arrive, they'll speak to the family... Then it's path labs and the forensic science people come in... Important to Rankin was the recognition that viewers and readers are knowledgeable: they've watched CSI, they've watched Trial and Retribution. They know the score, basically. By page 80 or 90 'someone gets interesting' said Rankin - or so they should.
And on the very final note and recognising how to feed the reader's need for suspense, Rankin outlined his own method for keeping the writing flowing and the suspense: he never kicks out for the session of writing at the end of a para or a chapter. He always leaves his writing mid-flow with a need for some 'head-scratching'. He finishes half-way through a sentence so it flows into the following day and so 'you're not just starting at chapter 6', declared Rankin.
And that's good advice; he should know, more than most, how to sustain suspense. He's a Scottish institution and a British one. He's a best-seller and his Rebus novels are both a cult and a culture within the UK, as well as abroad.
The academics and others in attendance at Cardiff University that night were so obviously proud to see him there. It's also good to see they had his enthusiastic support. It was a very good evening. Crime writing is researched in south Wales universities including and beyond Cardiff. I've heard Rankin speak before and I know he supports his academic endeavour; it was a meeting of like minds which he made ever-so 'street' and not embroiled in formalities of academia.
Cardiff and south Wales had a real treat that evening: I just hope that Ian Rankin too had a treat with his visit, his CD purchases in situ and his lunch - even if he discovered, during it, that reviewers proclaimed 'Don't give up the day job, Ian' when it came to his opera venture.
What Rankin can have is the luxury of playing around with various genres within the writing arena right now. But he thinks he already recognises his own heart of the matter. He may have the finances and time to play and experiment in substantially different genres for now, but he knows what makes him tick and his writing too. He said it in Cardiff and readers know it too: it's crime fiction.
Don't ever lose that brass key over the (possibly ever-elusive golden key) Ian. Consolidate what you have and make it work for you.
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