And to make matters more difficult for myself, I write every word by hand, because I can't type and don't own a laptop. On writing: You must be consistent, so that it becomes part of your everyday lifeįour weeks later, I begin the whole process again, and nine months later, I will have done about 14 drafts (1,000 hours) and then hand over to my publisher what will be a 400-page book. I then have a break for about a month, when I rejoin the real world regular visits to the theatre, art galleries, charity auctions, cricket and rugby (according to the season), and of course just reading and catching up with friends.

The first draft of a novel usually takes around 50 days (400 hours). Even the breaks are well organised - long walks and light meals during the day, and a DVD I've been saving, sometimes for months, during the evening (maybe 36 episodes of The West Wing, or 12 episodes of Mad Men). I rise around 5.30am, and start work at 6am. I follow a ruthless and disciplined routine, otherwise nothing would ever get done.

The second most popular question I get asked is, 'Tell me about the writing process.' I respond by admitting, 'I fear there are no short cuts to writing a 100,000-word novel.' In fact, on my recent world tour to India, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to promote Only Time Will Tell, an Australian lady in Sydney asked me if I'd already written all five books. When I handed the finished manuscript in to the publisher nine months later, the first question they asked me was, 'What's going to happen to Harry in volume two?' to which I had to reply, 'I have absolutely no idea, but I'm praying that I will have come up with something by this time next year.' When I sat down to write the opening paragraph of volume one, Only Time Will Tell, I knew little more than the tale would follow the life of Harry Clifton, a lad born to a family of dockers in the back streets of Bristol, who would, at the age of seven, discover he had a remarkable talent that would change his whole life.īy the end of the first book, in 1938, Harry would have won a place at Oxford, but then he has to decide if he should continue his studies, or sign up to fight in World War II. When I decided to write The Clifton Chronicles, a five-book family saga that would span a century, from 1920 to 2020, I had no idea what a daunting task I was taking on.

However, let me share with you the biggest problem I'm facing at the moment.

The truth is, the ideas never stop flowing. I only wish I knew, because if I did, I'd write a book on how to be a storyteller. The question I'm most asked by readers is, 'Where do you get your ideas?' If you treat writing a novel as a hobby, that's exactly what it will end up being

Only time will tell book series