First Word, Blank Page...

Hello!  Robyn Young signing in from Brighton, England...  Oh God.  Already I sound like I'm eighty-nine and have just discovered the telephone.

Blog virgin I'm afraid.

Well, in my defence, as soon as I typed the word BLOG into my computer it (in smug, know-it-all fashion) scored a red, squiggly I-do-not-understand-this line under it, which, come to think of it, is sort of what happened to me when Sarah invited me to be a guest blogger for today.  Just be yourself, she said comfortingly.

Myself, at present, is a jangle of pre-book nerves, so I guess that, as much as anything, is something to share.  Yep, it's that first word, blank page time again.  The first two books of my historical thriller trilogy (try saying that three times fast) are finished and published.  And now there's just the third to write.  Just the third?

Deep breath.

When I started my second novel, Crusade, my UK editor called it "second album time" implying this book would be harder to write, and get right, than the first.  Was it harder?  I expect, when I was rushing to meet the deadline, if anyone had asked - are you finding Crusade harder to write than Brethren? - I would have collapsed in a shuddering heap and shrieked YES! at them.  But now...looking back?  No, not harder.  Different.

I think that's the problem - and I expect any novelists out there who have written more than two could probably give an even more interesting insight into this than I can - it's that the experience of each book seems so different from the last that when it comes to write another it feels a little like the first time again.  Can I really do this? - you ask yourself, staring at the blank page and imagining little black lines of text creeping away into infinity.  And, in fact, how on earth did I do it the first two times?

Brethren began, just over seven years ago, as a single novel in first person and some - I'm still not entirely sure - how ended up as the first of a trilogy told in third person, that would span five decades from the last Crusades in the Holy Land to the fall of the Knights Templar in France, with over one hundred characters and a narrative that is half-fact, half-fiction.  Throughout the early stages I had no idea that it would ever be published - I didn't have an agent.  I also had no real clue as to how to write a novel.  I'd written two before, but I'd finished both with a sense of relief, glad that particular out-pouring was done, and consigned them happily to a sock drawer after a half-hearted attempt at publication.  Brethren was different in that I really believed in it.  But the writing and the research were steep learning curves.  In the end I had eleven versions of the novel on my computer and by the time I was signed up by a publisher, I had rewritten it so many times that the various plot tangles that ensued took me several months to unravel with the help of my editor.

Book two was an utterly different experience.  I was able to put into practise everything I'd learnt during Brethren, which meant Crusade, although longer, took me eleven months to write rather than seven years.  Wary of another tangle I wrote a road map in the form of a detailed chapter breakdown (around 30,000 words) that I kept beside me as I worked.  Some writers I've told this to have shuddered at the thought, imagining it to be horribly restricting. For me it was comforting.  The novel did change as I wrote.  Some characters ended up speaking more than I'd intended them to, others died unexpectedly, certain plot strands were better in synopsis than in reality, others appeared, took shape.  I updated my map every so often to reflect these changes.

I know many writers and our methods are so different I'm amazed how we all end up with finished novels on bookshop shelves.  One novelist I know writes her books utterly painstakingly from first word to last, unable to move forward until each paragraph, each word is perfect.  Another writes his books at top speed hardly editing at all, then goes back through and spends months polishing them.  I guess I'm somewhere in between.

Now it's my third: Requiem.  I've done my research, written my road map and I'm ready to go.  Monday's the day I start and I have another tight deadline in which to finish a journey that by then I'll have been on for almost a decade.  No doubt, come Monday, I'll employ any number of those quirky, novelist avoidance tricks.  I'll do the washing, scrub the bathroom, get drawn into unproductive oblivion by the Internet and probably get as far as thinking about cleaning the kitchen bin at which point I'll hopefully decide that writing is actually more pleasant.  And I'll get on with it.

I opened a copy of Crusade this morning and saw something that made me smile.  It was that page at the front which says: Other books by this author.  And there was actually one listed!  I know why publishers put that page in now.  It's got nothing to do with advertising books and everything to do with reassuring authors.  Well, I like to think so anyway.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear some of your first word, blank page experiences and challenges, and what you do to get over it!

www.robynyoung.com

Comments

[Kevin Wignall]

Hi Robyn, I don't have a huge amount to contribute but I dodn't want you thinking no one was reading, so thought I'd be the first to say hello.

For various reasons, I'm one of those "lucky" people who only write a book when they feel like writing, so I've never really experienced blank page syndrome. If I were trying to write a book to deadline at the moment I'd consider myself in the depths of writers' block, but as it is, I'm just loafing around waiting for the muse to strike.

I have immense admiration for people who have the discipline to sit down each year and write another book. So good luck, and I hope the trilogy ends with a huge bestseller.

[Aldo]

Hi Robyn,

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging. How did that guy Kevin beat me here ? lol.

As a wanna be writer, sort of, really, I try to write a little everyday. My day job requires a great deal of report writing, employee evals and such. I have several boxes of unfinished stories. The problem is that when I read such good writing I wonder if I'll ever be able to write as well. But I'm still having fun.

[Stephanie]

Hi Robyn,

When I begin my books I like to write a few scenes or details that are non-linear (though some may be from the beginning). That way when I do start on page one I feel I have some book begun and the pressure feels slightly less intense. Right now, I'm in editing mode, during which I have periodic bouts of "Is this good or utter crap and why can't I tell?" I hate those moments.

[Robyn]

Thanks for your comments!

Interesting to hear other people's experiences.

Great point to remember, Aldo: having fun! So necessary, yet so easy to forget in the middle of a deadline.

I spoke to a group of aspiring writers recently and when one of them asked me what the best part about being a published author was I realised that, as writers, they already had it...certainly, seeing your novel in print is a pretty incredible experience, and I wouldn't give it up for the world, but still, there's nothing that beats that feeling when you read back through something you've written that day and you realise it's actually good, really good...even if it's just one sentence.

Happy writing!

[Declan Burke]

Hi Robyn - Just started a new story this week, although I'm starting to think it's a couple of old stories that are coming together ... blackening the page is never my problem, finding the right voice to make it credible is. So I'm in for a few frustrating months ... but hey, how bad can it be when you're fiddling around with words, right? Best of luck with the latest project, Declan

[Pepper Smith]

First pages can be tough. I write, and then reread it, and wonder how I ever thought I was any good at it. Then I have to remind myself that the last thing of mine I'd read had been edited and polished to as near perfection as I could get, and that nothing ever starts out that way. At this point I've been writing three quarters of my life, so you'd think I'd be over that initial 'OMG this is awful!' reaction by now, but I'm not.

In the end, I'll often start something three or four times before I find just the right beginning that the story flows from. That bit can be frustrating, but in the end it always works out better for me.

[Ali]

Welcome to Blog-central

Look forward to reading more

Ali

[Rosemary Harris]

I smiled all the way through your post because I am in the throes of my sophomore effort right now. I'm hoping I learned a lot from book one, but every once in a while I think - that took 3 years, how am I ever going to bang this one out in 12 months? Re: avoidance...today's timesucker was a small bird trapped in my office. I have a feeling I will get up and look for it every 20 minutes today..until it is usurped by Alex Rodriguez' quest for number 500. Which has assumed a staggering amount of my time in the last 9 days. Cheers, good luck with the book.

[Rosemary Harris]

...consumed.

[Raymond Khoury]

Hey Robyn,

A little hello from a fellow blog virgin! I saw your post (have recently discovered book blogs, now that I'm in a breathing space between books) and thought that your post so mirrored my own feelings, having only recently completed my second book. Still, what a fantastic feeling, isn't it? I keep catching myself flicking through it (now that the UK and US hardbacks have reached me), re-reading bits of it late into the night, and, as you say, wondering how on earth I wrote it! But it's there, something to be immensely proud of. I'm really looking forward to reading Crusade.

So, congrats on book 2, and may that list of "Also by Robyn Young" keep growing!

All the best from sunny Puglia,

Raymond

[Robyn Young]

This is great! Must blog more often. So good to know there are so many of us out there, all with similar experiences. Made me breathe a sigh of relief and made starting today seem much less daunting. So thanks for your comments and good luck with all your projects.

PS: Hi Raymond! Glad you're looking forward to Crusade...and a very belated thanks for your comment on Brethren. I do hope our mutual publishers passed it on at the time, but in case they didn't: THANK YOU! :)

All the best, Robyn

[Raymond Khoury]

Robyn,
They did, and you're welcome!

[Paul Kinman]

Hi Robyn,

I have just finished Brethren, which was outstanding by the way, and have just purchased Crusade. Really looking forward to it! It makes the tube journey to work painless. In fact, I look forward to the tube commute now!
Any chance of Requiem coming out before 2008? I think I will go through Crusade within a couple of weeks and I am guessing the suspense will be to much to take!

For now, Gratias Ago Tibi! :)

[Robyn Young]

Thanks for your comment Paul. I'm glad you enjoyed Brethren and that it made the tube bearable! I wish I could say Requiem will be published before 08 but I'm in the throes of writing it at the moment so a little way to go yet. Hopefully Crusade will help with the commute until then!

All best wishes,
Robyn

[Paul Kinman]

Hi Robyn,

Just started Crusade this morning. Excellent to see a new bunch of characters in the form of the slave dealers and other masters of trade/production. I can already see how they will affect the process. So exciting! I was telling my friends about it down the pub last night. I felt that I was a Templar expert! :) Shame of the fate of the Templars in real life. I have always had an interest during this part of history (nothing geeky though)
I hope all is going well with Requiem, I am sure it will be just as good as the first two. Keep on typing with your falchion in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other!
All the best. Paul.

[Paul Kinman]

P.S. The tube is a dream now! :)

[Paul Kinman]

Hi Robyn,

Me again! I have a ton of questions to ask. Do you have an email address at all? If you do, just click on my name (next to the posted by bit) and drop me a mail. Cheers!

[Robyn Young]

Hi Paul
Best to contact me via my agent. You can find the address on my website (click on my name to go straight there)and my agent is listed on Events & Links page. He'll pass any email on to me.
Cheers
Robyn

[Paul Kinman]

Will do!
Cheers.

[Paul Kinman]

Hi Robyn,

Just sent you a mail of e. Hope you get it in good order :)

Just finished Crusade! One word is needed AWESOME!

You could have that on the review section of the next book if you like! LOL.

[Robyn]

Thanks Paul,
Glad you enjoyed Crusade. I'll keep an eye out for your email, although nothing's come through as yet...
Best
Robyn

[Paul Kinman]

Hmm.....That's odd. I went through Hodder - Contact Us - Author Contact. It was marked FAO your goodself. I'll give it a few more days and I'll send it again!
All the best
Paul.

[Paul Kinman]

PS. I have just added a couple of bit's to your Wiki page as well. I'll keep my eyes peeled and update it when new info comes out!

[Paul Kinman]

Hi Robyn!
How goes it? How's the book coming along? Really looking forward to it. Still see that Crusade is doing well in the local Waterstones!
Cheers.
Paul.

[Dean]

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