Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
R. Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth24 August 1948
character people mixtures
Some of my characters are a mixture of various aspects of people I have met. others are pure invention.
character people want
As a writer, you have to realize that people want to like the characters, so you have to be careful to keep them involved.
character needs fiction
Any author of fiction will tell you that characters don't need to be told what to do.
character ideas dialogue
I'm interested in character and dialogue and exchange of ideas.
asking characters people wherever
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.
accomplish books fortunate four keeping life personal strict time
I write four books a year. I'm very fortunate that I write quickly; around 3,500 words a day. Being strict about delineating my writing time and personal life, as well as keeping distractions at bay, is the only way I can accomplish this.
children giving long
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.
suffering-of-others imagination moral
It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others.
moved music opera people
The point of opera is that people are moved by the emotions and music.
country intimacy million people related tend
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.
hook novels serial
Serial novels have an unexpected effect; they hook the writer as well as the reader.
books constant country fed great lives paint people picture pleased portray positive poverty problems puts reporting success welcome
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.
life local
The local community is very important in one's life; the feelings of identification with a place and people.
life smaller
If you lose sight of the smaller accomplishments, you end up with an imbalance in your life.