From Police Officer to Crime Writer via the OU

Stuart Johnstone is a published crime-fiction writer and an Open University (OU) graduate. In this blog Stuart shares how his childhood dream of becoming author came true thanks to the OU. 

My earliest ambition (if you discount my farmer-cowboy-astronaut phase) was to be an author. I remember my profound realisation that normal humans write books, not a bunch of super-beings living on a cloud somewhere, and I was set; I would be an author when I grew up.

Then adolescence, closely followed by adulthood, descended and this ambition drifted away, leaving me somewhat rudderless, with no real idea of what to do with my life. 

I don’t remember when the idea of joining the police force occurred to me, but a directionless twenty-four-year-old was suddenly doing a lot of growing up; donning a uniform and starting out on a ten-year career in law enforcement. 

It was towards the end of this full-on decade that the idea of getting back to education was growing as a possibility in my mind. As a police officer I was feeling intellectually unchallenged, and ten years felt like a good line in the sand.

It was a scary step to re-enter society as a civilian. But it was also one with exciting possibilities. I was working full-time as a dog shop owner in Edinburgh, and so I needed more flexibility than most educational institutions would allow to follow my want, or perhaps need to study again. 

The Open University provided that opportunity and at 35 years of age I set off on a five-year journey towards my degree in English. In the second year, I was suddenly met with an unexpected fork in the road. I could, if I wanted, explore creative writing as part of my programme, or stick with the academic literature side, for which I was achieving fine marks. My younger self suddenly reappeared and it was with a certain trepidation I went off to see if there was anything in this earliest of ambitions. 

I was graduating from the Masters with distinction, I had secured a literary agent, and would be signing a book deal just a few months later."

I was delighted to find that the stories I was producing were achieving good marks and the feedback was both encouraging and constructive. So encouraging, in fact, that I decided to start sharing my work. 

Before I graduated from the OU Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in English Literature, I had been selected as an ‘Emerging Edinburgh Writer’ by the UNESCO City of Literature Trust. I read on stage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival a short story I had written for my studies. That same story was later published in an anthology.

I thoroughly enjoyed studying with The Open University, particularly as I could tangibly see my progress as a writer in that short time. I wanted to continue and so I did, into the OU Master of Arts in Creative Writing.  

This is where steady progress turned into something resembling fiction. Over the two years of the Masters course I produced short stories and essays for my studies, as well as working towards my first novel, a section of which I would use for an assignment. I continued to share my work, buoyed by what had already happened and the continued encouragement of OU tutors. 

I was shortlisted for a competition run by the Guardian newspaper. The competition was designed to promote a new short story collection by one of my literary heroes, Stephen King. Long-story-short, it led to my first major publication. 

That year ‘Six Scary Stories Selected and Introduced’ by Stephen King was released and I could hardly believe my luck. At the same time, I was graduating from the Masters with distinction, I had secured a literary agent, and would be signing a book deal just a few months later. My debut novel ‘Out in the Cold’ was published in 2020.

I have taken time out to write this blog and reflect on how important my experience with The Open University was. But that’s it. Now it’s back to chapter six of my fourth novel!