I worked for a council and the rules said they couldn’t employ me now ‘coz I was 60! That’s no age these days, is it?
So then, on Pension Credit, it was into an old people’s bungalow. Not that it was bad. Quite the reverse, it was where I lived for 18 years very happily. I had a beautiful view across the Tyne valley and lovely neighbors. Since then I have moved to Cheddar in Somerset to be closer to my family. Anyway, before that the question became – what now? Do I have to sit here and wait to die?
That was when I began to write the sort of book I had been reading for years. I knew absolutely nothing about writing a book and I cringe now when I read my first drafts.
I couldn’t even begin to plan a story – where to start even. Then I thought about what makes you read a specific book? A first line that hooks you. So I wrote: Anna didn’t see the soldiers until it was too late. So then I asked myself; who was this Anna and what was she doing, why was she there, where is there? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
And that’s the thing that gets me. I always want to know what happens next. Then I went to every writing class in the area and met lots of people just like me. Some of them have become life-long friends.
As you will know if you’ve read my first book, that’s not the first line. Deciding when to start a story is one of the hardest things. If you start it too early you get too many boring things happening before the action starts; but if you start the story too late the reader doesn’t get to know anything about the people or the place and they feel they are always running to keep up. And – this is the kicker – you can’t know where to start when you start!
So the truth about writing is – the writing is just a small part – it’s the editing that is the real work. And the worst part is you can’t do it all yourself – you need someone else’s eye to spot the problems; you are too close. But it has all been worth it. I enjoy every minute. Digging a story out of your own head is way more exciting than reading one.