Bloody Rowan Williams...

Sometimes, these modern 'men of the cloth' should be gagged with it.

Back in my day - and my 'day' was less than a decade ago, mind - there was a clear distinction between politics and religion. Your local vicar concerned himself (or herself, in this day and age) with your spiritual wellbeing and kept their opinions out of their sermons.

But golly, not any more. Now the church shoves more political dogma down your throat than a member of the Socialist Worker's party.

It's the Church of England I get especially annoyed about.

I mean, we've already had the one stupid woman who declared that she could be a practising Church of England vicar AND a practising Muslim both at the same time.

Now we've got the head honcho - le grand fromage - waxing lyrical about the state of the world in the Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church, ranted bombastically in an interview with Emel on the evils of America's foreign policy and their fall from moral grace.

It was a heartwarming bit of solidarity with the growing anti-American movement in Europe. Getting it published in a Muslim magazine (perhaps not the most objective of publications) was the icing on the cake.

Personally, I'm very angry with him. Politics and religion should have nothing at all to do with each other. I thought that an organisation as venerable as the Church of England might understand that.

Why am I angry?

I mean, I'm not exactly a regular church goer and I have been undergoing somewhat of a crisis of faith recently. Why should I care what Archbishop Williams has to say?

Well, because his bleating, cynical, politically-motivated rant ends up being considered an 'opinion' of the Church of England and all who pledge their loyalty to her. People like me - because I firmly consider myself an Anglican.

In America, you're expected to label your religious convictions just like you are your political and ethnic ones. Just as you have Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and African-Americans, or Liberals, Moderates or Conservatives, you have Baptists, Catholics and Episcopalians (that's us Anglicans.)

Unless you firmly identify yourself as one type of Christian, you're forever being invited to luncheons at the local church. Plus, by declaring myself a proud Episcopalian, I was declaring my roots to my 'mother country.'

It's the denomination I was raised as. It means something to me. We have a history.

I declare my loyalties to the Anglican church - and now the head of that church has gone and embarrassed me with his ill-considered rant.

So Americans ask: Where do your loyalties lie? With your adopted country or your church?

To a very small degree, I'm beginning to understand the problems young Muslims must face growing up in Britain and America. They have religion saying one thing, but the culture they have been brought up in standing for something else. Their religious leaders make them choose - and having to make that choice results in things like the 7/11 suicide bombings in London.

Mixing religion and politics is very wrong and very dangerous.

All Rowan Williams has done is driven a wedge even deeper between me and my relationship with the Church of England. And considering the plummeting level of church attendees, perhaps I'm not the only one he's alienated.

I think the Archbishop of Canterbury should be admonished for his political bleating and told to keep his eye on what's important - people's spirituality. Too many modern 'men of the cloth' forget that pride is a sin and use the pulpit more to feed their egos than to stoke the fires of their congregation's belief.

Shame on all of them.

Interview with novelist Paul Burston

82. (NEW ENTRY THIS YEAR) Paul Burston, Novelist

Burston, 41, has been gay editor of Time Out for almost 14 years and also makes regular contributions to television and radio. Burston's first book, Shameless, was made into a TV programme for NBC. His third novel, Lovers and Losers, is out this year.

This was the Independent on Sunday's appraisal of journalist and writer Paul Burston - and in keeping with the standards of British journalism, at least part of it is true.

The piece came from 2007's 'Pink List' - a list of Britain's "Great and Gay," celebrating the achievements and contributions of out-and-proud gay Brits. Paul was recognized for the first time this year, placing a respectable 82 on the list of 100 most important 'Pink Brits.'

The Independent's research is a bit fuzzy. As Paul himself points out, his novel Shameless is sadly not being made into a TV show for NBC (not yet, at least) and he humbly queries being considered hotter than eighties icon Boy George (who came 86th on the Pink List.)

However, one thing is for certain. Paul's overdue appearance on the list confirms that other people are finally recognizing all his hard work.

Burston wears a lot of hats. Figuratively speaking. (Perhaps literally as well - I never got around to asking.) He's been the editor of Time Out London's gay section for the past 14 years and crops up on radio and television more and more frequently. However, it was as a novelist that the Independent on Sunday recognized him.

Paul's first novel, Shameless, became a critical and commercial hit in 2001, joining the best seller lists as well as being shortlisted for a State of Britain Award. Lovers and Losers, Paul's third novel, was released recently and seems to be heading in a similar direction.

Paul very kindly agreed to answer a few questions I had about his writing career and how he managed to hit the best seller lists. As usual, my questions are in bold and his answers are in italics:

So how did it all all start? At what point did a fresh-faced Paul Burston decide that he was going to make a career for himself writing, instead of taming lions or diving for oysters?

I've always written stuff, ever since I was a kid. At junior school I used to write stories about a character called Jim and my teacher would have me read them out at morning assembly. Then I'd get beaten up in the playground. But they didn't beat it out of me.

When did you decide to write your first novel? And why?

It was partly inspired by real life events. And I wanted to write the kind of gay novel I liked to read - nothing too literary, quite light but with some serious points. To me it was a natural extension of my non-fiction writing. It had the same aims - to entertain and to inform.

What was the process that took you from germ-of-an-idea to getting-pen-to-paper?

There's no bog secret to it. You just have to sit down and write. And write. And write. A lot of what you write will be bollocks, but you cut that stuff out or go back and fix it. There's none of that 'sitting around on a chaise lounge waiting for inspiration' nonsense. Writing is work, and sometimes it feels like it.

Your novels are brimming with nostalgia and pop-culture. How much of your own personal experiences wind up between the pages?

A lot. Sometimes I don't realise how much until afterwards. For me writing fiction is far more revealing than even the most personal confessional journalism. You're hiding behind your characters, and inevitably you let things slip through that you wouldn't have the courage to say as yourself.

How do you go about writing? Do you have a schedule? A particular place or room you write in? Do you write in the early morning or late into the night? Do you use a word processor or write long hand?

I work 9-5 in my study at home, on my Applemac. I could never write long hand again. Computers have changed the way I organise material and even the way I think. I do keep notebooks, which I carry everywhere. But I've learned to copy notes onto my mac as soon as possible, or I might end up with a notebook full of notes and no novel!

Some days I might work late into the night, but I try to avoid this because it stops me from sleeping. I wake up at 3am with my brain racing!

So from when you finished writing the first draft of Lovers and Losers to when you sent it off to the publishers, what sort of editing process did you go through?

My editor reads my stuff and makes suggestions. Mostly she's bang on target and I make changes - fleshing out a scene, or reintroducing a character we haven't seen in a while. Then it goes to a copy editor and they query things - mainly to do with style. I don't change much. I'm quite firm about retaining my 'voice'.

What do you think the secret to getting published is? Why do you think your writing stood out?

I honestly have no idea. I was approached by my publisher many years ago to write a non-fiction book, and it went from there. Having a good agent is essential. Most publishers won't read manuscripts without an agent attached.

My agent is Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor. She's an out lesbian and very well respected. I prefer having a female agent and editor. I have two sisters, and my mum was alone for a bit when I was young. I guess I relate more easily to women.

What was the last fiction book you read?

Neil Bartlett's 'Skin Lane'. He's an amazing writer. I love his use of language and the eroticism of his writing.

What advice do you have for any aspiring writers out there?

Be prepared to work had at it. Writing is a job, and it requires vast amounts of effort. Be prepared to work long and hard at it before you get it right. And get an agent.

Thanks a million for your answers, Paul. They're fascinating.

Check out Lovers and Losers on Amazon and visit Paul's website here.

Nanowrimo - The Countdown Begins

On the first of November, despite mounting commitments, I am going to attempt Nanowrimo - to write a novel in 30 days.

I've got a really solid novel planned out - just haven't had a chance to write it yet - so there shouldn't be any problem. Oh, except for that pesky job, life etc. Tina and I are even considering getting second jobs to get our finances in order for a return to America.

So it looks like a pretty daunting task - but I'm sure it can be done. Why am I so confident? Because my incredibly prolific namesake, Angie Hulme, managed to do just that last year.

Angie describes herself as a 'wannabee writer,' which doesn't seem quite accurate since she's written a huge number of books, including "After the Fairytale" which starts off where the 'happy ending' of Cinderella finishes.

I asked Angie about Nanowrimo and the secrets of her success last year:

So for the uninitiated, what is Nanowrimo all about?

Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writers Month. The basic challenge is to write a 50k word novel during the 30 days of November. Personally, it's a really big challenge and so much fun to do; socially, you've got this huge group of people who are just as insane as you are trying to do exactly the same thing – so you're never lacking support either online or in person from other Nanoers in your region. Nano as well raises money to do good things – this year the aim is to raise enough to build a library in Vietnam. It's all about having fun, doing something daft you wouldn't normally even think of doing and everyone not doing it thinks is totally insane, not to mention impossible, and going for that sense of achievement of a challenge well met.

This isn't your first year! Tell us about last year and what you wrote.

Indeed, this is my second year! I had so much fun last year I simply had to do it again! Last year I played the bad guy and wrote a story about a fellow who gains a big inheritance form a dead Uncle who suggests he uses it to do something memorable, something to change things – so my until-this-point everyday fellow reveals he's actually secretly missing a few screws, and sets off around the UK persuading other people to break the 10 Commandments! It was so much fun to write – just to turn off the inner editor, write whatever came to mine, not taking any of it seriously; I had myself in fits of giggles a number of times. And to make it even more fun I took on challenges form other people of things to fit into the story somehow. The entire Nottingham region had a challenge to fit ferrets in somewhere, other challenges met included evil bunnies, gnomes in compromising positions and a bucket with a big smile and a little hat...so yeah, it got almost surreal at points! But meeting with the Nottingham group every weekend through the 'ordeal' was so much a part of it as well – it wouldn't have been Nano without that, and the word games on the forums and speed-writing challenges in the chatrooms. It wound up, for me, as just a real fun time and after I finished sleeping after last years, I was immediately looking forward to doing it again! Incidentally – I did my 50k in 22 days last year; plan to try and beat that this time!

What was the secret of your success?

Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee keeping me awake late at night in order to hit my word targets, and plenty more at work the next day simply to keep me awake!
Having a good group around me was also really helpful – every Saturday the Nottingham Nanoers spend a couple of hours or an afternoon together and it's such a laugh and such fun and I would come away feeling refreshed and renewed and often with knowledge of where my story was going next; I think without that group of us I wouldn't have come near finishing. Also understanding friends are handy – non-nanoers who don't mind me asking random questions about nonsensical things or asking them for challenges or ranting about my characters or raving about my word count and generally hearing little from me except random nano nonsense for the month, they're great! I recommend warning them in advance!

This year...well once again I'm playing the baddie! My protagonist is a lady, a police officer, who after being jilted by her husband thinks back and realised that every lover she has ever had has done that in one way or another her whole life. So, again revealing a few missing screws nobody realised weren't there, she setts off tot rack them all down backwards from husband to first boyfriend in order to murder them in strange and interesting ways. So far for challenges, I have the Nottingham theme (seems to be 'the lower half of a man's right leg' - worryingly, none of us had much problem seeing where we could fit this into our stories!) and acrostic paragraphing, though I've not yet decided what word to spell out. And I'm sure there'll be more along the way!

What advice do you have for any budding Nanowrimo'ers (like me?)

First of all – snacks. Buy lots of snacks and easy to eat foods. Also coffee or any other favoured energising drink, plus water/fruit juice for general consumption. Make sure you have plenty – you'll be needing it while writing.

Second – warn all your friends who are likely to notice something amiss during the month – and once warned, you can also make use of them for bouncing plot off, advancing it by asking what they might do, talking to them on the phone to get away from typing for a while,and various other things.

Third – don't promise to do anything with other people; tel them you will if your word count is good, but don't make any promises for November or for the first few days of December when you're likely to be sleeping.

Storywise – have an idea, plot as much as you like, but don't force the story somewhere it doesn't want to go else you risk losing it entirely; be flexible, write whatever comes to mind and if you get stuck, talk to friends and other nanoers. Also if you don't like your main character – kill them and replace them, seriously, this is Nano, you're not trying to write classic literature – entertain yourself, whatever that may take, and you'll get through it.

Get a good headstart during the first week or so, then weeks 2 and 3 can be more relaxed and hopefully you won't spend week 4 in a panic! The daily word count divides into 1667 per day over 30 days – so try setting a daily target of 2000 per day, if you mostly hit that then the odd bad day doesn't matter and it keeps you on course for being able to actually finish your story, not just hit the 50k target!

Don't get disheartened by other people's word counts. You'll find some people ace right through and are i the 100k's while you're still in 20 – it doesn't matter, you're challenging yourself, not competing against them.

Keep it fun, really, there's nothing at stake here, it's meant to be a fun challenge – keep it light, entertain yourself, remember you're not writing a masterpiece, you're just...writing.

Well, you'll be able to read about my attempts to write The Bootleg Boys on Nanowrimo at the Adventure Eddy blog. The current story should be winding up in the next couple of days.

And if you want to find out more about Angie's writing, the best place to start it her website. You can also find After the Fairytale on Amazon.

Fiona Walker: The Event Author

There are certain "event" authors.

These are the writers whose latest book release rates as an household event.

From the moment their coveted new hardback lands on the coffee table, it's devoured by eager readers. Leave that book unattended for more than a second and you'll risk coming back to find somebody else clutching it.

Traditionally, it's been Wilbur Smith and Jilly Cooper who've rated as the 'event' authors in the Hulme household. For the last few years though, author Fiona Walker's joined them.



Now, I don't want to sound too sycophantic, but I adore Fiona Walker's books - quite a confession from a bloke, since she's hailed as the inventor of the 'chick-lit' genre. I think they're great. Hilariously funny, romantic and escapist, Fiona's got a brilliant turn of phrase and it's always been tough to put down one of her novels.

I've just finished Fiona's latest book, Tongue in Cheek, and loved every minute of it. It's a fast paced mystery in which Fiona introduces us to an enormous cast of characters. She's done it very skillfully, too, without leaving the reader constantly flicking to the front of the book wondering "who's this again?"

I've tried to emulate certain qualities of Fiona's writing in my own - especially the blistering dialogue and the colourful characters. She might seem an odd inspiration for the author of gratuitiously old fashioned adventure stories like mine, but I think Fiona's got a modern flair that my other writing influences lack and, like my favourite author, Leslie Charteris, it's obvious that Fiona has enormous fun writing her stories.

After publishing my interview with Robyn Young, I sent Fiona Walker a cheeky email to ask if she'd be willing to answer a few questions about how she went about the writing process. She agreed! Many thanks to Fiona for agreeing to this and I hope you find her answers as fascinating as I did.

My questions are in bold. Her answers are in italic. If you haven't gathered that by now, you're probably the person they're forced to print instructions on toothpicks for.

How did you get into writing? What inspired you to write your first book and why did you pick that particular genre?

I wrote French Relations initially as an exercise in occupational therapy – and then because it became an obsession, only finally suggesting itself as a potential career path.

I was laid low with a kidney infection, and signed off work for six weeks – longing for something entertaining to read. In the end, despairing of finding quite the right escapist fix, I started to write it myself. This was 1990, before ‘Chick Lit’ ever existed, more an era of bonk-busters and Aga Sagas. I adored anything funny – Jilly Cooper being a huge favourite - but also really wanted something that related to my own life, with a heroine that wasn’t a high-flyer, and a hero who laughed and talked her into love rather than throwing her on a silk-sheeted four-poster in a series of acrobatic sexual manoeuvres. Hence Tash French was born – the idea of the family gathering inspired by one of my own Rabelaisian kin’s summer parties.

Ultimately, when I was well enough to go back to work full-time, I found I was so hooked by writing this story that I gave up my rather stressful job in advertising and took a year out to finish the book, funding myself with part-time work (and very sympathetic parents). It didn’t really occur to me that it might be commercially publishable until I had almost finished and friends and family put me under increasing pressure to take the gamble and send it out to agents. Amazingly (to me, at least), two agents immediately wanted to sign me up. I guess my ‘genre’ (which was more luck than design) matched a change in direction for women’s fiction at that time, which ultimately resulted in what became known as ‘chick lit’. Then, as now, I simply wrote what I wanted to read, keeping plots and characters fairly close to my own life experience, with lashes of wish fulfilment in there too.

Your books are well known for having a complex cast of characters who pop up across books, like Odette, Pheobe, Juno and co. How did you come up with these characters and was there any particular reason why you decided to circulate your stories amongst a particular group of friends?

My female lead characters (and most of the supporting cast) always start life loosely based on my own friends. I like to think of them as all having a back-story, a life before the plot begins in Chapter One – even if it doesn’t get much air-time in the book itself – and equally I like to think of them continuing on after the final scene, hence it’s good to link books together via groups of friends. Equally, I might write a minor character in one book that interests me enough to want to expand into a more major character, or even a central heroine, in a following book. Again, linking the books together via friendships, or an area (such as the Lodes Valley) enables this.

Likewise, the Cotswold village you've created, Oddlode, seems to have a lot of stories to tell. What inspired you to create the place and what plans do you have for all the inhabitants?

This is partly laziness – I live in the Cotswolds, overlooking the real-life Evenlode Valley, so I don’t have to travel far to research! And I love the area – and its inhabitants – with a passion, making writing about them very easy. Being a chatty soul, I find that ideas are easy to come by – villagers love to gossip – and now that I am quite well-known locally as a writer, I get boundless suggestions from all sorts of sources. I could probably write about Oddlode for many years to come, but aim to write just two more novels in this series so that I can move on before the idea becomes too jaded. Ultimately, there is at least one character who I definitely plan to match up in dramatic fashion before I leave them alone, and a few more who might well get a few just desserts.

How do you go about putting a book together? Something like Tongue in Cheek is quite complex. Do you plan your stories out before hand?

I usually start with two or three fairly well-thought-out characters and a central plot idea. Then I’ll write a few thousand words just off-spec – travelling hopefully and going with the flow to see what happens. From this, I take time out to form a detailed plot and chapter plan from which to work on. Often, those first few thousand words are barely recognisable by the time the book is published, if they appear at all, but they get me going and free up my mind enough to know which direction to take. By the same token, the chapter plan is continually updated and tweaked as new ideas occur to me, or the book changes direction slightly, but on the whole I try to stay loyal to it because the plots are very complicated and it’s easy to lose direction totally.

How do you actually go about writing? Do you have an office or a study? Or an enormous kitchen table in front of an Aga? Do you choose to write in the morning or evening? Do you drink endless cups of coffee?

Over the years, I have written in all sort of different spots – I started in my sister’s old bedroom at my parents’ house on an ancient BBC computer, graduated to a laptop at the dining table in my own tiny London flat, then a proper desk in a larger flat, onto an old kitchen table in the attic of a Cotswold cottage and next to a tiny, cold lean-to study in my current house. A couple of years ago, I forked out for an extension and had a purpose-built study built with a great view across the valley and a wall of shelves which I have already overloaded with reference books and my own foreign editions (ego-tripping!). I find if I am truly in the grip of a book, I can write anywhere at any time (rather like reading), but when I get to the sticky bits or have a confidence crisis, it certainly helps to have a good spot in which to write, plus plenty of caffeine/wine. I have recently quit smoking, which is no doubt wonderful for my health, but murder when I need a displacement activity at my desk. On the whole, I write much better in the evenings, and even through the night when on a real ‘roll’. I like the silence and the solitude, plus the fact there is nothing to gaze at through the window except darkness. When dawn breaks, I know it’s time to call it a day – literally!

When you've finished your first draft, how do you go about the editing process? How different are your first drafts from the final versions we buy in Waterstones?

As an adrenaline junkie, I am usually horribly behind deadline and don’t have as much time as I’d like to edit. I print out a hard copy and hawk it round with me everywhere (in bed, on trains, on the sofa), covering it in red pen marks. I then type in these corrections, cursing myself when I get to a chapter that I have simply crossed out and written ‘rewrite all of this, only better!’ in red ink. If possible, I try to go through this process a couple of times before the manuscript goes to my editor, who equally covers it in (far politer) red pen marks. After a final bit of rewriting, it goes to be copy-edited and into production – then there’s really no going back. From first draft to published article, there will be some completely unrecognisable sections, but the bulk remains much the same.

Who are your favourite authors? What books do you particually like?

I am an avid reader and completely fickle. Although I try to keep up with my genre – particularly friends who write similar books – I am as likely to be caught devouring something historical or a biography. For true feel-good satisfaction, I still can’t find better than a really gripping modern family saga, laced with honesty and humour and hopefully a good romance at its heart. I just love Maeve Binchey, Katie Fforde, Lisa Jewell etc. For laughs, I adore Sophie Kinsella, Helen Fielding, Chris Manby, Jenny Colgan and others too numerous to mention. For tears, JoJo Moyes is a favourite – and, of course, I am still an avid Jilly Cooper fan, the fairy god-mother to us all.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

The first bit of advice I always give is to simply get on with it, trying not to analyse what you’re doing to much – write, write, write to get the book written. Just completing a novel is a huge task and a wonderful achievement, and it won’t happen unless you sit down and do it! Of course, reading also helps enormously – for inspiration, technique and to keep your imagination active (a writer must suspend his or her own disbelief in order to achieve the same for a reader). Be wary of trying too hard to write specifically to a commercial formula – aiming at one genre. Publishing is always evolving and what is in the shops today may not be what is selling by the time your own book is finished and published (a process that can take years). Much better to write something that you are passionate about, a story that really stays in the mind, characters that come alive, all set amid a backdrop that is convincing and real. And never be afraid to go back and change things quite radically. I personally prefer to have a finished novel that I am always editing than to have fifty different versions of Chapter One.

Thanks so much, Fiona. I'm incredibly excited to get a peek into how you go about writing!

Needless to say, you can pick up Tongue in Cheek and Fiona Walker's other books from most good bookshops or online at Amazon.

Brethren

Anybody keeping an eye on upcoming books will probably have heard of Robyn Young's Brethren, the first in a highly anticipated trilogy of historical novels set during the Crusades.

Brethren's already been released in the States and immediately shot into the best-seller lists over there. I've no doubt exactly the same thing will happen here.

Niall Christie happens to be very good friends with Robyn and was kind enough to put me in touch with her regarding the possiblity of some radio interviews. Hopefully you can catch the lovely Dina Burgess interviewing her on 107.2 WinFM in early September.

Now, I'm in awe of writers. A few months ago I interviewed Ian Hocking, author of Deja Vu, and quizzed him on his approach to the writing process. Incredibly cheekily, I asked Robyn if she'd be kind enough to answer some similar questions.

And she did. Yay!

NOTE: I actually... erm... lost my questions in the period between writing to Robyn and her answering. (Apparently the same sort of thing happens to Michael Parkinson all the time.) The questions in bold are pretty much what I asked Robyn, but might not be exactly word for word.

How long goes past between coming up with the idea for a story and actually sitting down and putting pen to paper?

It’s fairly hard to answer the first question, what length of time passes between the idea and the first moment of writing, as it varies from project to project. My first two novels, unpublished, were to be part of a fantasy series and I think I simply sat down to write them when I was inspired. Brethren was a much slower process, because of the fact that I had to do so much research before I could even think about facing the blank page. I also spent a few months playing around with different perspectives and characters before I began writing seriously.

RH: Do you plan your novels? What sort of planning process did you go through?

I had a pretty good idea overall what I wanted to include in the trilogy, in terms of particular events, characters and story lines. But I didn’t plan out Brethren as such. I worked on the novel for more than six years and in that time changed the narrative from first-person to third, did away with some characters and subplots, established and invented others, altered my style dramatically and found my voice. Rather than follow a rigid plan, this organic approach enabled me to experiment and discover what did and didn’t work. However, the penultimate draft did end up with a tangle in the middle, which was quite tricky to unravel. Now, partly because I’ve found my voice and partly to avoid tangles, I work in a very different way. I’m halfway through Crusade, book two of the trilogy, which I planned out completely before I started, to the point of writing an in-depth synopsis for each chapter. It’s an elaborate plot, covering seventeen years and several major historical events that are all connected to my fictional story. Because, now I’m published, I’m writing to strict deadlines, I cannot afford to finish the novel and discover that it doesn’t work. I need to know, from the outset, that it will. Of course, things do change in the writing of it: you find some ideas don’t work as well as you thought they would and certain characters take on more of a role than you anticipated. When that happens, I simply change my chapter breakdown accordingly. I think it’s a question of recognising and allowing the conscious and unconscious processes to work in their own ways: structure can keep you grounded and give you confidence, but you also need to allow your creativity to have its own way and let out its leash a bit.

How different was your first draft from the published manuscript?

I guess I’ve answered this question above! Yes, the manuscript in its first draft was very different to the novel that has been published. I have eleven versions of Brethren on my computer, to give you some idea.

What sort of editing process do you go through? How do you most effectively edit your writing?

I was writing Brethren whilst on two creative writing courses at university, one of them a Masters, and I picked up numerous editing techniques during this time. The most valuable for me, which had the greatest impact on my writing, was sharing my work with other writers. In groups we would read out our poetry or prose and give one another feedback. It’s no good if everyone in this group isn’t willing to be honest. I found you needed to develop a sort of sensitively brutal approach to be effective. Some people call it the shit sandwich. Start with a positive comment, then give the criticism, then cushion it with another positive comment. The key thing about a group like this is trust and that is pretty much the luck of the draw on courses. I was fortunate to work in a very tight group on my Masters, who were all serious about their writing and about giving and receiving feedback. When the degree finished, I set up a writers’ group with another student and the five of us have now been going for four years. Each member has had a real impact on the novel and has been invaluable in terms of support. I’d say the second best editing technique, after sharing work with others, is reading work out loud. You’ll pick up more mistakes, repetitions and clunky sentence rhythms this way than you will when just reading from the page.

Well, I found Robyn's answers fascinating and am incredibly grateful for her answering them. Check out Brethren (including dozens of glowing reader's reviews) on Amazon or visit Robyn's brilliant website at robynyoung.com.

I will confess, there was one other question I wanted to ask, but didn't have the guts to.

What safety precutions do you have in place to prevent Orlando Bloom (who probably kept his chainmail from Kingdom of Heaven) being chosen to appear in any possible film adaptations of Brethren?

This Writing Life

Ian Hocking, author of techothriller 'Deja Vu,' has a fantastic blog about his experiences in writing, plus writing in general. His first novel has gone on to win quite a lot of acclaim and two more, a sequel of sorts called 'Flashback' and a very promising comedy called 'Proper Job,' are in the works.

Since I'm at the editing stage of Adventure Eddy, I thought it would be a good idea to ask a seasoned veteran about the stages he went through when putting together a book. Ian very kindly obliged. Anybody who aspires to be an author will find this fascinating stuff.

Obviously, all of us writers have ideas flitting around our brains. But at what point did you sit up (or sit down) and decide: Based on that thought, I need to write a novel?

I've been writing fiction since I was a teenager. I don't think I had a definite plan to write a novel, but, as sixteen-year-old, I was daunted by the size of a novel, and tried to cobble one together from a few short stories. The result: a complete disaster. But I learned a lot from the experience and wrote two more novels before I sat down to write 'Deja Vu', which was published in January 2005. The impulse to write that novel was simply 'Well, I suppose I'd better get on with it'. I didn't have any overall plan for the novel, but I had some interesting characters and an interesting situation, and wondered how far I could take it.

You wrote a 120,000 word novel. How? Did you plan it out? did you sit down and write it? Did you get writer's block? Did you need to go back and change stuff you'd written? Or did it all vomit out from your brain onto the page?

With Deja Vu, I wanted to make sure that first draft was written in one go without any stoppage, even if I thought it was going badly. So I planned to write 500 words a day, seven days a week. That's not too hard; it's like keeping a diary. Eventually, after about five months, I had the first draft of a book.

You stress the importance of editing very strongly in your blog. Just how different was your first draft of, say, Deja Vu from the finished product? How did you go about editing it?

The first draft of Deja Vu was 120, 000 words, and the published version is 69,000. That means I've reduced its length by 50,000 words - seems like a lot, but, honestly, there were no significant changes to the story overall. Those deleted words were unneeded. Adverbs, descriptive passages, an unnecessary character or two. Of course, editing is more than deletion, and I added a lot too. In fact, I re-wrote the first half of the book from scratch using the original draft as a guide. I was helped a lot by my editor at the UKA Press, Aliya Whitely (whose book 'Three Things About Me' is about to be released by Macmillan New Writing). She prepared a report full of suggestions (an editor never really directs you make changes; oh no, that would be to easy). Essentially, it boils down to: What is the bare skeleton of wordage needed to tell the story? Anything beyond that should be excised. This is particularly true of the thriller genre, but probably holds for most others too, with the possible exception of the literary genre. For me, editing is vitally important. An unedited book is like an unprepared actor going on stage; some are talented improvisers, but most will die on their arse.

I think that's fascinating. Thanks a million, Ian.

Ian's excellent website, plus details of his books, can be found at ianhocking.com