Writing
I have always liked words. From their origins to how they all fit together has always fascinated me. Even in music, it was the lyrics that drew me.
I was brought up on Johnny Cash, my father filling the house with him every weekend. There was something about his songs that were different from the rest. They told a story, either fictional or of history, some of the pivotal moments in the American past told in that warm voice.
When I hit my teens, it was the words that grabbed me again. The Jam, and then Paul Weller as a solo artist, were my main thing, but on the way I have discovered others, from the kitchen sink classics of The Smiths to the poetry of Bob Dylan. Even today, it is the impudence of the lyrics of the Arctic Monkeys that attract me as much as the great tunes.
Although I have always read, and usually read crime, I was more influenced by music than by books. For me, writing is about rhythm. The words have to grab you and sweep you along. I like books where the words do the work, so that I can relax and be taken along rather than have to work at it. I don't read a book to find the deep meaning or marvel at the complex structures. I want a book that does the driving for me, so that reading it is almost like lying in a darkened room with the lights off.
When I decided to start writing, I just wanted to write a book I would want to read. Plenty of pace, with twists and turns and some occasional shocks. I like to think that I achieved that with my books.
I have a simple process.
I set out a plan, one that begins with an outline, which is then expanded into quarters, and then chapters, and then individual scenes. I use it like a routeplanner: I don't have to follow it, but if I decide to go on a diversion, I do it only when I have worked out how to get back to the route. I set myself a target of a thousand words a night. I usually stick to that, but the thousand words don't always make it to the final cut. The first thing I do is go back to what I did the previous night, because what seems powerful at midnight, after a long day at work and the medicine of countless cups of coffee, can seem crass when read with a colder mind. So I go back and edit constantly, always chipping away, trying to improve. When I read it back, I want it to skip along, no missed beats or clunks. This is not about complex rhythms, no progressive rock guitar solos. It is all about short and sharpness.
It's the distractions that make it hard. My computer is in the same room as the television, so there is always background noise, usually kids TV. Then there is the games console, and the children arguing or playing. And they are getting older, so they stay up later, my writing time pushed backwards all the time to the early mornings, my weekdays a battle against tiredness, working all the time towards a weekend lie-in.
But I enjoy it, wouldn't change it. To see the product of my efforts on a bookshelf is reward enough, something to be proud of, and so I'll keep going, planning and re-writing, just trying to write a book that I would want to read.
Neil White
2009