I is for Immortality

"I" time in my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

Fame! Who wants to live forever? Well, maybe not in the literal sense (I think I would have seen enough after the first thousand years) but in terms of creative pursuits, I think most of us would have to admit to wanting to be remembered long after we're six feet under. (And I think I'm going to have to work on my sentence structure if that's to be the case.)

I didn't necessarily go into writing with ambitions of this type, but it would definitely be a nice byproduct. Look at Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, for example, a timeless tale still familiar to countless children today even if they haven't actually read the book. While they may be frowned upon by some, adaptations like the recent Jack Black movie keep such classics going for further generations.

I think stories are the most timeless form of art. People, with their foibles, desires and sins, don't change much and this is why a well-told tale can still resonate hundreds, or thousands of years later. Architects, painters and musicians may also be remembered after death, but books have a unique effect on me which I've never gained from any building, painting or song (although music comes a close second).

How would you like to be remembered?

H is for Home

Another week and it's time for H in my A-Z series "Things that Made Me a Writer".

If you caught Saturday's post you'll recall that it was all about travel and experiencing new places. Today's entry is about the exact opposite. Yes, I also find home to be very inspiring for my writing.

My warts-and-all workstation just before a writing session. Note the
digestive biscuits waiting for a dip in hot tea, and the ladybird
under the table because this is also the playroom.

Let me explain: I'm a creature of routine. I usually like to do things the same old way all the time, otherwise I get thrown off course. And I'm quite fussy when it comes to my writing conditions: preferably almost complete silence, or just a little background hum. That's why, although I have written in cafes and the library, "home is where the art is" when it comes to my work (sorry).

I am greatly inspired by foreign trips and just things I see out and about on a daily basis, but my kitchen table is the best place for me to turn that inspiration into something tangible. Of course, I have easy access to various biscuits and numerous other snacks, but that can be a downside depending on how you look at it: keeps me going but not doing my waistline any favours. Above all, though, I need as little outside stimulus as possible so my imagination can run riot, and my little kitchen definitely fits the bill.

Does home inspire your writing?

G is for Globetrotting

Welcome to letter G in my series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

Between February and June 2002 I dropped everything and headed off on a round-the-world jaunt. Quite brief by some standards, but I credit this sojourn as a top contributing factor in making me the writer I am today.

Why? Well, until this point, my life essentially lacked any purpose and direction. I had completed two years of university, but became disillusioned with what I was doing towards the end of this time and opted to take a year out to think things over. I worked two jobs from July 2001 to save up and then took off. I saw many sights - mangy dogs in Bangkok backstreets, ultra-clean Singapore trains, a giant clam in the Great Barrier Reef, I climbed up a glacier in New Zealand, was blessed by an elephant goddess in Bali and saw sailors swinging from trapezes in a gay club in Rio. Sorry about the lack of pictures - my scanned photos aren't in the right format.

In short, I saw more of life in four months than I had in the previous 21 years and came home full of inspiration. I enjoyed keeping a diary of my voyages and my first idea was to become a travel journalist or foreign correspondent, but this soon translated into more general reporting work and I started studying journalism in Glasgow in August 2003. My journalism background will be discussed more thoroughly in my "J" post (surprisingly enough), so if you're interested make sure you come back then.

It's an old cliche that people go travelling to "find themselves". Well, I don't know if I would go that far (I'm constantly trying to find myself through my writing and I'm not there yet) but it was certainly the moment that set the ball rolling for what I'm doing now, which came at a time when I had no idea about my future.

Have you been inspired by your travels?

F is for Family

Time for F in my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that I can be pretty soppy on occasion. I am going to be unashamedly so today. Apologies made, let's crack on.

I started writing my first novel in March 2007, at age 26. I had got married in June the year before. In April 2006 I had also started a reliable job at the Department for Work and Pensions. I was well and truly settled down. So in what way did this spur my desire to write a book?

The first short story I have a clear memory of writing was in 1997. I was pretty pleased with it. It had a time travel element, something I've always been fascinated by. However, I never even completed another story until I started writing that novel, except for a half-baked foray into horror for my college magazine, which was never published. I certainly never felt satisfied with any of my scratchy attempts during that decade-long interim.

So why did it take until I was married and had a steady job to start taking writing seriously? I've come to the conclusion that I needed to be settled and have stability. Certainly I used to have more time on my hands. I like to think I used that time gaining life experience, but really my youth was pretty tame compared to most. At 18, for example, rather than clubbing it up in Brighton's top nightspots, my friends and I would sit in a cosy corner of a pub supping pints of Guinness and pondering life's conundrums. We probably thought we were pretty intellectual, but anyone listening in would surely have taken our chat for the nonsense it actually was.

I also think I needed the emotional support required for writing. I never used to think I had anything worth saying, but my wife encouraged me to give it a try, if only to stop me going on about it all the time. Then the idea for my book came to me and I've never looked back. She took a look at my WIP about halfway through -  I have never felt more nervous when showing anyone my work - and her advice was invaluable on what was going wrong, such as my somewhat suspect dialogue (my characters were Scottish although you wouldn't have known it), but she also said it was exciting and she wanted to know what happened next. That was pretty validating considering I was trying to write a thriller.

The kids are great for inspiration too. I could write more than a few excellent children's stories based on some of the things they come out with.

So, how do your loved ones inspire you as a writer?

NB: This is a prescheduled post as I am away from April 2-6. I will endeavour to respond to all comments on my return.

E is for Excitement

Welcome to today's instalment of my A-Z series, "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

Today's letter could also have stood for Energy. Enthusiasm. Elation. All things that I feel when it comes to writing. But not so much for other tasks I carry out, such as cleaning the oven. I'm going to get a bit scientific today and explore exactly why some things are more appealing to us than others. What happens in the brain when we get excited? (And no, not in that way... get your minds out of the gutter.)

Well, there's not much to the science bit, if put briefly. Basically, if we are having an exciting experience, dopamine is released by neurotransmitters in the brain, which gives the sensation of joy and exuberance. It's true that a good writing session gives you a real rush. OK then, so why exactly do I get so excited about writing?

Well, the list could go on and on. I'm eager to get a story down that's taking up room in my head. I want to create a work of art that's totally unique, that has a life of its own. I get excited about people responding to my characters, getting emotionally involved with them, rooting for them or being reviled by them. Because the possibilities are endless when it comes to writing. You can go anywhere you want, do anything you want, be as extreme as you want. Because even when I've written something I think is rubbish, I'm excited about making it better. Because I can be in a terrible mood or doing a mundane task and be pepped right up when a new idea comes to me. I'm sure there are lots more reasons.

What's exciting to you about writing?

NB: This is a prescheduled post as I am away from April 2-6. I will respond to all comments on my return.

D is for Drama

Welcome to letter D of my A-Z series "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

No, I'm not talking about the sort that goes on daily with friends, spouses and work colleagues, or even more serious stuff on a larger scale - I've been lucky not to have much in my life, though I understand it can be great for inspiration. I'm talking about my one-time lofty dreams of thespianism (great word).

The first things I clearly remember writing were little plays at around nine years old. Typically, they featured my real life friends and family put into humourous situations. They might not have amounted to much, but I caught the writing bug from them, even if I wasn't really aware of it at the time. I wanted to be an actor. That was what I wanted to be my whole childhood, and the plays were an extension of that.

Those who know me now find it amusing that this was my ambition. I'm shy around new people, and when in unfamiliar situations, and fumble my words. But as a child, acting was part of a plan to overcome that.

I felt an urge to perform, to show off a hidden, flamboyant side of me that was never seen in my daily interactions. Nowadays, I channel all of that into my writing. I had a bad stutter and I worked hard to conquer it when delivering my lines. At high school, I was fully involved in the drama club, and loved creating characters to perform in our frequent shows. I never quite enjoyed rehearsing proper plays as much.

I can see now that acting played a key role in shaping my ambition to become a successful writer. That urge to show people what I can do, that I'm more than meets the eye, started from there.

Have you had other passions in your life that you think went towards making you the writer you are today?

NB: This is a prescheduled post as I am away from April 2-6. I will respond to all comments on my return.

C is for Comments

Time for letter C in my A-Z series, "26 Things that Made Me a Writer".

This is a relatively new element in my writing DNA, but now I absolutely thrive on comments. Not just those on my own blog, but on others' too. They are a big part of what makes this community so active and vibrant. Many times I have read a post that has inspired me, but I have taken just as much from some of the comments.

With my own blog, I really feel encouraged by the comments to keep plugging away at the WIP. I've been overwhelmed by the positive feeling among writers and how much we want each other to succeed - because we are in the club that knows how tough it is. We're strangers when we first follow each other, just little faces in a grid. It's through comments that we start to build friendships and connections.

Just think how different the blogosphere would be if we didn't have this. We'd all just be standing on our own soapboxes, shouting into an abyss, and I don't particularly like the sound of my own voice. There are so many great types of comment: useful feedback if we share some of our work; alternative perspectives if we're stuck or need advice on something; or if we offer our own advice in a post, it's great to know that it may have helped someone, even if it's just a little bit.

What do you love about comments?

NB: This is a prescheduled post, as I am away from April 2-6. I will respond to all comments on my return.