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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, author Guy Robin shares the creative process that went into his new book, Indomitable, and what inspired his story.
Written by Guy Robin
 I didn’t start with any idea where my writing journey would take me. I loved literature at school and completed a couple of creative writing courses in the last 10 years. The biggest impediment to getting started for me, was time. We all live such busy lives, it’s easy to fill your days doing so many other interesting things.
Writing A Book
When the lockdown commenced I suddenly had that time. It was the opportunity for me to see something through to a conclusion without being distracted or losing motivation. It also gave me a structure for my day during the endless period of time at home. I would set myself the loose goal of 1,000 words a day, sometimes going over, sometimes under. Suddenly I had a story of 80,000 words.
Bringing that story to publication, is another topic entirely. I will just talk about the writing process, as an experience for me. I wrote a story based upon what I know and the characters on people I know. Setting the location in an area I am familiar with, so I can describe the sense, the feel and even the smell of the place. I have a Public Service background, so I used that professional experience to help develop the characters and the story.
Write about what you know. Use elements of your life experiences to help bring depth and reality to you work. Be creative with names, make them believable; perhaps speak them out loud. Sometimes when you say a name out loud it just doesn’t work. If you use a location, then know it well, but use google maps and street view to remind you of some of the finer aspects if you aren’t able to physically be there.
My Writing Process
I write at a desk most of the time, using an old Mac computer and Microsoft word. But if out and about, I have found myself writing on a tablet and I also always carry a notebook with me. I once wrote, almost an entire chapter of a story into my notebook, sat in a coffee shop waiting for my car to be serviced. It passed the time and it was actually really therapeutic too. Writing for me has been an aid to my mental health. I am engaging my brain and spending time thinking about stories and plot lines. But sometimes, when I pause, my mind will drift off into another idea or I will have some memory of the past, some of this I might use, some of it just makes me smile.
I am the stage where I have stories on my computer in note form. Only the bare bones of a tale, just waiting for me to return to one day. Actually, I have several of these ideas on the notes section of my phone. I did this most recently over the Christmas break. My wife and I were travelling across England and Wales doing the traditional visit to all our family and friends, living out of a suitcase from mid-December. At one particular gathering, I suddenly had an idea for a story and made a few brief notes on my phone, which I have since transcribed to my computer for a future project.
Writing Advice
Make your writing enjoyable. Get the light in the room where you write, bright enough. Have a view to stare at when the inspiration for the next line just won’t come. If you like music or the radio playing in the background then do so. Get up and physically stretch your legs during a session, even if it’s only to make a cup of tea.
Use all the aids that the computing world can provide for you, to do your research. I have already mentioned google maps and street view. But look at websites and other maps to learn about something you are not sure of. Your story has to be authentic, so do your research.
Indomitable
My latest work is a historical fiction. I have taken fictional characters and woven them into real events in history, so the accuracy is paramount. But it’s also been great fun to work out how to use times and places in history and attach them to my story.
Use a spell checker and if you are going to try and publish then get the work proof-read and copy edited before you send it out anywhere. Use someone close to home first, perhaps. I use my wife in the first instance. She is not only very good at spotting grammar mistakes, but also has a keen eye for telling me if something doesn’t really work or, when read, it sounds a bit ‘clunky’ or wrong. You could use friends, but they might be shy at being too critical. I have been lucky enough to find a friend of a friend, who I have never met. He is a schoolteacher too and has no qualms about making plenty of corrections and suggestions. Always the teacher!
If you do continue beyond all the proof reading and actually go in search of a literary agent and publisher, I wish you all the luck in the world. But keep writing your next story. Don’t pause in your writing journey. If after six months of querying you have made no progress, you will almost certainly be nearly finished with your next tale.
My name is Guy Robin and I have self-published my second novel, Indomitable. While going through this process I have almost finished my third project. Just keep writing. I wish everyone writing all the very best with their endeavours.
Find more from Guy Robin now:
On Facebook as: Guy Robin
On Instagram as: Guy Robin
On X (Twitter) as @GuyRobin_author
On LinkedIn as: Guy Robin
On Amazon author central as Guy RobinÂ
Indomitable
Kindle: https://amzn.to/4aJTHcc
Paperback: https://amzn.to/49Jkcx2
Dysfunction
Kindle: https://amzn.to/47yGH6J
Paperback:Â https://amzn.to/3TWb7Ng
Apple Books: https://apple.co/4d7iAA2
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