Writers Write Is All About Writing
Writers Write Is All About Writing
Frederick Forsyth

Literary Birthday – 25 August – Frederick Forsyth

Frederick Forsyth was born on 25 August 1938 and died on 9 June 2025.

Frederick Forsyth Quotes

  1. I’m slightly mercenary: I write for the money.
  2. The Internet offers authors and their readers a new diversity of opportunities and freedom.
  3. Get your facts right. Try to write a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
  4. As a novelist nowadays, you have to assume that everything you say will be, for some reader somewhere (and maybe for hundreds of them), something they know a lot about. And they do not forgive slovenly descriptions riddled with errors.
  5. Twelve pages a day, 3,000 words, seven days a week. But it’s the research that takes the time. And, yes, I have to force myself to write. Sounds ungrateful, I know.
  6. In the early stage of thinking up a plot, I can be anywhere: on a fishing boat in the tropics or walking the dogs – and thinking.
  7. The only time I need quiet is when I am physically writing. I’ve a farm, and I’ve converted the upper floor of the barn into a writing room. There I sit and type: 10 pages a day for 50 days. But there’s been at least a year or more of meticulous preparation before I hit the first keys.

Frederick Forsyth was an English author known for his bestselling thrillers and occasional political commentary. He rose to fame with The Day of the Jackal, followed by other successful novels including The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, and The Kill List. Known for his detailed research and fast-paced plots, Forsyth often drew on real political events and international conflicts. Many of his novels and stories were adapted for film and television, helping to establish his reputation as one of the leading espionage thriller writers of his generation. Forsyth sold more than 75 million books worldwide. His honours included a CBE in 1997 and the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger. He also wrote a memoir, The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue, which reflects on his life, career, and experiences in journalism and espionage.

Source for Image: Hannu Lindroos / Helsingin Sanomat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick-Forsyth-1972.jpg


by Amanda Patterson
Are you interested in more authors’ birthdays? Please click here: The Complete Author Birthday Calendar

Posted on: 25th August 2013
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