Authors Electric

Writing on an ipad in bed at dawn against the light of the electric heater—the writing life demands that you write wherever you are. I’m supposed to be on vacation, but here I am, typing away.  I’ve written on moving buses, trains. Not boats. Definitely airplanes. I remember tearing apart (physically) an entire manuscript while on a train in Scotland, as stunning views or slow-moving sheep reflected on enormous glass windows.  An entire short story was once written on a flight to the UK from Singapore. I was tired, grumpy, could not sleep, so I thought writing would help me. It did not. I inhaled copious amounts of caffeine, furiously typed a draft that only made half-sense, and alighted a cranky woman—perhaps the only time that finishing a piece gave me a fit of rage and a crick in the neck, instead of the sense of accomplishment that usually follows. I like having written, more often than not. A friend wrote yesterda...

How long should it take to write a novel? Well, that's a silly question, really, isn't it? Because everyone knows there is no 'should' in it. It takes as long as it takes. But despite all of that, I have recently had cause to consider this question. What as writers do we generally expect? Is the equation always 'time spent equals quality of book.' Is it ever possible to work on a book for too long? Does a writer spend the same time on each book? Ten years ago, I certainly thought that I had an answer to that last question. I had written three novels by then and each had taken about four years. So I thought - ok, so that's my process and probably that won't change much now. It would be better if I could work quicker but I can't. (One book had missed a publisher's deadline by two years). But then the next novel took eight years - or maybe even more. I'm too embarrassed really to put an exact figure on it. Then came a memoir...

I am reaching the end of the first draft of a new novel. It is a while since I've worked on anything entirely new and I had forgotten how much I love first drafts. It also always surprises me how fast I can write one. Two or three months at the most. My technique when writing a novel is first to plan and then to get the whole thing down on paper from beginning to end. The rule is that I'm not allowed to stop - no matter how bad it gets. The plot may cease to make sense, I may change all the characters names two or three times, a character may be born during the Second World War and then become a teenager during the 1980s - but still I keep going. This is what works for me. I know that other writers work in entirely different ways. But I need to see the whole book from beginning to end before I can progress. And the process is so exciting. You can write whatever you want. No need to think about subtly, nuance, detail, research, credibility. It is fine to write as...