On Writing: My Journey with The Airshipmen. Part One.
It has been suggested I should write about my experiences in writing this epic—and that’s what it turned out to be, an epic - in order to help other new writers. Some people said ‘The Airshipmen is much too long, cut it down or make it into three novels’. I looked at that, but it couldn’t be done. I could have made it into a three-part series, but I thought it would irritate some readers if each part could not stand alone. I even sent the first third to a journalist friend to read. He sat glued to it reading furiously for two or three days. When he’d finished that segment he said, ‘So where’s the rest? I need it and I need it right now!’ So that answered that question for me.
I’ll start at the beginning. I’d always wanted to write. I worked in the construction industry at management level on all types of projects. That business is a ‘stop and start’ business. It fluctuates with the economy and as soon as there’s a hiccup, construction is always the first to get slammed. So, during one of my unemployed periods I read a book that rekindled my interest in both the paranormal and airships, going back to my teenage years reading Nevil Shute’s ‘Slide Rule’. I did research and wrote a thousand pages of notes on the great airship R101 tragedy. I read books on playwriting and screenplay writing and bought a screenplay software program. I wrote an 800 page screenplay (insane, I know!). I also subscribed to Writer’s Digest, which I found to be a great resource for new writers.
Once back in work, I went to Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland in the evenings to take screenplay writing courses. I showed them my screenplay. They laughed and said it needed to be 120 pages not 800 - what are you thinking! So I read up on screenplay writing and kept on going. I learned much from this experience and met a lot of nice people—I also learned to write dialogue, which I believe helps enormously in novel writing. I read A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch, as it was pointed out in one of my instruction books that she was a master at dialogue—and she was. I don’t know if you enjoy reading dialogue, I certainly do. I like to look at a page and see lots of white space. I think dialogue defines the characters and brings them alive. The Airshipmen is driven by dialogue.
I set up a room in my basement next to our washer and dryer. Yes, à la Steven King—but he was in a trailer! I should aspire to his writing genius. Maybe I needed to move into a trailer.
Next, I got lots of front pages from 1920’s British newspapers pertaining to the story and plastered them around the walls along with photos of real life characters involved in these events. I also bought a desktop computer and a Mavis Beacon teach yourself-to-type program. That was great. I enjoyed it and it really worked for an old man. This helped with typing the 1000 pages of research and my silly giant screenplay. I was happy—this was what I’d always wanted to do! To cap it off, I set up a great sound system with headphones and listened to inspiring music while I worked (from 1920’s Charleston/flapper music to Depeche Mode to Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits).
I’ll start at the beginning. I’d always wanted to write. I worked in the construction industry at management level on all types of projects. That business is a ‘stop and start’ business. It fluctuates with the economy and as soon as there’s a hiccup, construction is always the first to get slammed. So, during one of my unemployed periods I read a book that rekindled my interest in both the paranormal and airships, going back to my teenage years reading Nevil Shute’s ‘Slide Rule’. I did research and wrote a thousand pages of notes on the great airship R101 tragedy. I read books on playwriting and screenplay writing and bought a screenplay software program. I wrote an 800 page screenplay (insane, I know!). I also subscribed to Writer’s Digest, which I found to be a great resource for new writers.
Once back in work, I went to Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland in the evenings to take screenplay writing courses. I showed them my screenplay. They laughed and said it needed to be 120 pages not 800 - what are you thinking! So I read up on screenplay writing and kept on going. I learned much from this experience and met a lot of nice people—I also learned to write dialogue, which I believe helps enormously in novel writing. I read A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch, as it was pointed out in one of my instruction books that she was a master at dialogue—and she was. I don’t know if you enjoy reading dialogue, I certainly do. I like to look at a page and see lots of white space. I think dialogue defines the characters and brings them alive. The Airshipmen is driven by dialogue.
I set up a room in my basement next to our washer and dryer. Yes, à la Steven King—but he was in a trailer! I should aspire to his writing genius. Maybe I needed to move into a trailer.
Next, I got lots of front pages from 1920’s British newspapers pertaining to the story and plastered them around the walls along with photos of real life characters involved in these events. I also bought a desktop computer and a Mavis Beacon teach yourself-to-type program. That was great. I enjoyed it and it really worked for an old man. This helped with typing the 1000 pages of research and my silly giant screenplay. I was happy—this was what I’d always wanted to do! To cap it off, I set up a great sound system with headphones and listened to inspiring music while I worked (from 1920’s Charleston/flapper music to Depeche Mode to Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits).
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