Guest Post - David Massey's Writing Process

Please welcome David Massey to Books for Company!

Thank you David for a great guest post and an insight to your writing process. I loved Torn and although I could see how much thought had gone into it I didn't realise quite how much! 

David Massey on the writing process...

The Fag-Packet Stage.

I suppose the biggest thing is getting the initial idea – that often tends to happen while I’m driving for some bizarre reason and usually results in a mad scramble for somewhere to park up. It’s often about then that I realise I don’t have a pen or, if I do have a pen, I don’t have anything to use it on. So, for me the first stage of writing is what I call the fag-packet stage and as I don’t smoke I have to make do with Asda receipts or the good old trusty envelope. I have been tempted to try electronic cigarettes just so I can use the packet they come in, but that’s a bit desperate.

This one shows that Barclays Bank is good for something – the envelope used for scribbling down something that occurred to me about a follow-up novel. (You’ve seen it here first!).

The Notebook Stage.

A notebook seemed like a good idea at the time but because guys don’t take a bag everywhere it is only partially successful. Sometimes I transfer the envelope stuff into it when I get home but more often than not I’ll just be lazy and shove the envelope in the back cover until I’ve written the section of the novel it relates to. The notebook stage tends to be at breakfast time with a cup of coffee where I’ll scribble mind maps and try to get those little ideas that send you shooting off on a tangent until your editor tells you to get a   grip.  Sometimes I’ll draw little chapter timelines in here so I can plan what’s going to take place in a specific part of the book.

If I remember to take the little bugger with me I’ll also jot down those ideas that pop into my head when I’m doing other things.

And finally – when I have got something that feels like it may be a goer, I move on to the …

Plan It Like You’re Planning A Moonlanding Stage.

This is where I get out the A3 sketchbook I bought for sketching and use it for writing because it means I don’t need to have lots of separate pieces of paper hanging around. (I still have lots of separate pieces of paper hanging around...)

On it I draw an arcing line that represents how my protagonist will change over the course of the book from the ‘Inciting Incident’ to the turn-around (or two) at the end. Sometimes I set it out in three acts like a screen play. And voila! Several months, nervous breakdowns, knackered computers and rejections later you may just have a novel. Simples!

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