It's 3:39 AM, here I sit in my small flat on the outskirts of a Yorkshire City few have ever heard of or know the whereabouts.
Many would wonder why on earth anyone would be up at this hour, but for me, as a writer it is these early hours I find the most fruitful, when the world outside my home is silent and dark a light still burns in my window.
I should be working on my latest book, yet find myself writing this blog instead.
What I wanted to talk about was the process I personally go through to create a written work such as my first book the Quest.
In this particular instance The Quest and it's sequel (yet to be released) was written in a period of around Three years, as I wrote the words they were flowing onto the paper (monitor) like water droplets cascading down a smooth glass surface, the characters were born and their story took place.
I drew on a lot of self experience when writing the first Two books, originally writing them as one complete novel then later splitting them into two volumes, my many years of travel, hitch hiking around the UK served me well and a memory of my motorcycle breaking down and a beautiful blonde woman stopping in the middle of the dual carriageway of the A1 to give me a lift were I suppose the true beginnings as this is also the first scene of the Quest.
My knowledge of history, legends and myths is quite vast and from a young age I was happily dragged around many a museum or ancient monument by my parents, much to my delight, something about the past called to me, a feeling of belonging in a world where I felt for many years I had no place.
So the legends of King Arthur became my backdrop, I didn't want to retell the story of Arthur as this has been done to death and so omitting the King himself from the story (other than a cameo in volume Two) I twisted and contorted the legends, borrowing here and there from them to create an original story with a familiar theme.
I won't give too much away in regards to the plot of the Quest, you will have to buy the book to find out what happens, but I will say that it is a unique twist on an otherwise over-told tale, showcasing some of Britains most well loved landmarks and characters from the Arthurian legends.
The reason it took Three years to write?
I do not write constantly, day in and day out, for any writer to do this would be a drain on inspiration, imagine filling a car petrol tank to the brim, then you spend the rest of the day driving until the tank is empty, you can go no further as you have no more petrol, it is the same with writing.
To many whom see me at home they would think that I procrastinate a lot, spending my time watching documentaries, playing computer games or even trawling through social media, what they don't see is this.
The documentaries I watch are usually historical or Archaeological based which means I am always learning, the websites and stories I view on social media are always relevant to whatever I am working on and my mind is on constant overdrive, forever ticking over, contemplating character plots, descriptions or locations, questions like "where do I take the story next" or "do I introduce/kill a character" always flood my thoughts.
The games, I have no excuse for, I like to play them, not very well I admit I'm rubbish and nearly always get my ass kicked on MW2 but they are a good way to escape from my mind for a while.
While on the subject of my mind, I think it would be relevant to explain that I don't consider myself to have the mind of a "normal" person, this is to say being creative in many fields I often have trouble slowing my mind to focus on one subject at a time, imagine an idea as a spot on a piece of paper, now multiply this idea by Ten Thousand or so, roll the piece of paper into a ball and repeat the process until it is the size of a brain, now throw the ball into a washing machine and try and stop it and focus on a single spot, this is what it is like inside the mind of a creative person.
Thoughts are always spinning, some so quickly the idea arrives and is gone in a split second but on the occasions my mind is slowed enough to focus (usually this time of the morning) then something special happens.
Apologies to those who thought this would be a list of how to write a best seller (something I would love to know myself) this is simply an explanation as to how I approach my writing, I am not saying this is the correct way or the only way only that the following process works for me when creating my books.
1) don't spend all your time writing, save time for other things in your life.
2) procrastinate a little, spend your time listening to an watching/reading relevant content, go out into the countryside or somewhere else just as peaceful, be alone but also make time for others in your life I have drawn much inspiration from the people I know and have met over the years.
3) research, research, research, I can not stress this one enough, perhaps it is just me but don't you hate it when you're watching a movie say set in the Roman period and someone is using a 14th century sword? or wearing armor that wouldn't have been around? if, like me, you are writing Historical fiction or basing a story around legendary works it is imperative to get your facts correct and it can also help with describing locations if you are writing about somewhere you have never been.
4) create strong characters, in this sense the word strong means giving them personality traits that people can relate to, story lines which are believable and sincere, if your character is heartbroken or happy you want your reader to feel this when they read that particular scene.
5) re-read what you have previously written, many times I have done this and found errors or had to rewrite paragraphs to make the story flow better and take notes.
6) write about what you know, this is one of the most important things to remember, if you are writing about a subject you have lived or studied your story will seem much more believable than if you were to write about a political upheaval in Africa when you know nothing of politics or the African continent or their customs and beliefs.
7) discuss your story ideas with others, even if someone isn't creative themselves or doesn't have the ability to write a book often great ideas can come from bouncing ideas off of friends/relatives or even complete strangers, my first book I wrote whilst bouncing ideas off a friend of mine who had no knowledge of the subject, and despite the fact many of his ideas weren't suitable or didn't fit with where the story was going, it was doing this which brought my own ideas forward, where as others suggested ideas which I did use.
8) don't worry about spelling or grammar when writing your first draft, all this as well as formatting can be done once the story is told, but when you do get to this point either use a professional editor service or get several different people to proof read and proof read it yourself before submitting for publication
9) Eat, drink and write, food is good for the brain (so I'm told) I have found that I can concentrate better when I have a full belly and a plentiful flow of coffee when I settle down to write.
10) relax, meditate, be at one with the world...okay I'm not really into that hippy stuff myself, for some that works, for me I find playing relaxation or chill out music low in the background helps with my writing, especially if, for example, I am writing about Scotland and I am listening to Celtic music.
Music is in fact an important piece of my writing tool kit, and I find that certain types of music affect the style and direction of my writing, I wrote a big battle scene in The Quest Volume Two whilst listening to Pantera and Metallica, a romance scene while listening to Corey Taylor and a tragic scene while Princes "Purple rain" blasted through my speakers at a low level.
I could probably write so much more in regards to this subject but at the risk of boring people I think I should end this here.
If you are interested in any of my writing to date I have written Three books, Two of which are available in paperback from Amazon and the Third I will be releasing sometime in the New Year.
Available now: The Quest (Vol 1)
The Templar Curse
Coming soon: The Quest (vol 2)
Click here to visit my Amazon page.
Phillip Ross Amazon books
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