I am about to begin writing the first chapter of my new book. It is, for me, the second most exciting moment in writing something (the other being finishing). The whole Word document sits before you, white and inviting, just waiting for those little characters to make their way across the page in that magical combination that will get it onto a bookseller’s shelf.
I can still remember my first book-writing sessions. I was at university studying arty subjects, so had more than enough time to work on my book idea, all eagerness and excitement. Of course, I did prepare somewhat before I began. I still own the notebook (the cover shows the Hogwarts school crest from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books), filled with my excited scribblings that I had to “get out of the way” before I could begin the real work of actually writing the thing.
It’s a funny thing to look at now. Near the beginning, after some brief character descriptions, there are six A4 pages containing 20 chapter breakdowns that were supposed to make up my first book. I soon realised, however, that books tend to develop a life of their own and well-meaning breakdowns often have to be put aside as the action of writing takes you off in directions of which you never dreamed. Consequently, the book I eventually wrote has only a little of what I originally intended. But that’s okay.
The rest of the notebook is filled with maps and history and ideas that I figured out as I went along. There are parts sellotaped in and loose printouts slotted between the pages. As I look at it, I remember just how disorganised I was and how, were I to try and write the whole book again, I would start by doing a little more work before I wrote a single word.
Which is what I have done recently. For the last month I have written nothing on my new book, save for some post-it notes. I have been over my ideas in my head, discarding those I eventually decide won’t work and keeping the ones that I return to again and again. It helps. I have a clear idea of where my book is going and, when I came to sit and write a short overview of the book today, found it quite easy. I know where it’s going. I know what’s going to be included. I know how it will end.
Sure, along the way I’m bound to have new ideas. As I’ve said, that’s how writing works and I’m sure most authors will agree. But I have my notes and my research and I feel there is enough to keep my book close to the lines I have chosen. I think that had I begun to write my book straightaway, it would have floundered somewhere in the middle, as too many ideas squeezed in at the beginning and there was little to surprise the reader towards the end.
I am excited. For the first time in a long time, I have found my enthusiasm again and my fingers are itching to type. It’s going to be a long road, but one for which I feel prepared.
The fun will be had in finding out just where it is going to take me.
The problem I am having, however, is the actual logistics of time travel. It is a battle between my personal ideas and those of the scientific community, none of which have been proven yet and are not likely to be in my lifetime. The scientific views range from the possibilities of wormholes and cosmic strings to the outright denial that time travel is possible. There is much talk of paradoxes and “casual loops” that can confuse the mind but get us no closer to deciding if time travel is possible.
start writing my book and before, even, I would start the hard work of researching different periods in history, I have to decide how the time travel thing is going to work. Clearly I want my characters to be able to go back in time, but do I want the thread of time to change as a result? I suppose I could just not mention that fact, as these books will be aimed at the 9-12 market, but I don’t like leaving holes for people to say “But what about…?”
Dreaming of Writing... 