Mark Ellis, author of 'Dead in the Water' - Crime writer discusses huge first drafts, long-term character planning, and crime during the war
Writer's Routine
Dan Simpson
4.9 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2022
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mark Ellis started work as a lawyer, then ran his own business, and is now 5 books into his own crime series. It's all about Detective Frank Merlin, who investigates crimes during World War 2, a time in which committing crimes was relatively easy.
His new book is 'Dead in the Water', which looks at how a mangled body found in the Thames and a missing piece of art are connected. We talk about how much he plans long-term for his characters, why he overwrites his first draft and how he goes about cutting it down. You can hear how he gets ideas for Frank's adventures, and why sometimes it's easier to let the characters take care of things themselves.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hello and welcome to a brand new episode of writers' routine, the show where we take a look |
| 0:13.7 | inside the working day of some of the most successful and inspiring and creative authors around. |
| 0:20.3 | This week, we're chatting to Mark Ellis. |
| 0:22.9 | He is a lawyer turned businessman, turned crime writer, |
| 0:26.6 | who's just published his fifth Frank Merlin book called Dead in the Water. |
| 0:31.4 | We talk about how his love of wartime and his intrigue in the crime that went on during it sparked his imagination also why he does |
| 0:40.3 | simply extraordinarily long drafts and then cuts them down and you can hear why when he's in a bind |
| 0:48.2 | he lets the characters sort it all out so what do i do with these people and then you often read |
| 0:53.3 | interviews with authors |
| 0:54.5 | where they say the characters take over. Well, it does happen. You know, you think, I've made this |
| 0:59.2 | person now, what would he do in this particular situation? And if this happened, how would she |
| 1:05.0 | react? And then all of a sudden, you've got a story. There's more on the way with Mark Ellis in a brand |
| 1:10.1 | new writer's routine. |
| 1:20.3 | Yes, welcome along to the show. |
| 1:22.3 | This is writer's routine, where we take a look inside an author's working day. |
| 1:26.6 | Find out how they get ideas, then where they |
| 1:29.7 | put themselves, how they plan their day, how much coffee they drink, what music they listen to, |
| 1:34.8 | what time they start, what time they finish all in order to get that idea down and then |
| 1:39.8 | published. My name's Dan Simpson. Thank you for being there. Thank you for downloading, |
| 1:44.6 | streaming, following, and listening to us. It's a very special episode this week. Because |
| 1:49.4 | for the first time in over two years, it's face to face. It's not a Zoom. It's not a Zencaster, |
| 1:59.2 | or a clean feed, if you know your tech jargon. Mark was very kind, very |
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