Occasionally I get asked how to go about writing a book. I usually answer ‘one word at a time’. It sounds glib but there’s a lot of truth in that. We start off with a premise, or a character, or a line of dialogue, or a situation. But we never really know if the story has legs until we see how far we can take it.
Short stories are a discipline all of their own. Novels have room to roam and speculate but in short fiction every word has to earn its place. I used to travel between Cornwall and London regularly, so the train became a mobile writing desk. Sometimes I would begin a short and find it ran out of steam (no more train references, I promise). Other times, what began as a throwaway snippet of dialogue morphed into something far more substantial. The Silent Hills, for example, took on a life and shape of its own. All I had to do was listen to the muse and write down what it said.
With Standpoint, my first spy novel, I had a lot of information at the very beginning, including the ending. I remained intrigued by the central character after the final chapter and the initial premise for the sequel, Line of Sight, emerged organically. It felt natural to follow any direct consequences from the previous novel, and that became one of the central features of the series.
Ask most writers and they’ll tell you that there was never any plan, other than to write a story and see where it led. I imagine the same is true for all creative arts and their practitioners. It’s a leap of faith without a safety net or a map, and it may take you to unexpected places. As a writer, author and mentor, I can recommend the journey!
You can pick up the first five Thomas Bladen spy novels in a box-set for only £1.99.
DPN Tutor
Such great advice – one word at a time. I would also say, beware your internal editor – it can become a habit to go back and edit what you have written, when actually writing new words is the direction to focus on.
Derek Thompson
That’s a very good point, which I’ll cover in a future post. It’s good practice to set a piece of work aside for a while before putting on an editorial hat!