The Rose Tremain Method From Interview no. 15 • The idea. Sometimes the idea that you want to write about a certain subject comes first, then you have to find the story to best express the idea. Alternatively, a story occurs to you in a kind of strange, magical rush, prompted by something out of the blue. Don’t rely on what you know: if you base your writing on your life you’re going to run out, and you’ll have to live a bit more before you can write anything. • The research part of writing a novel takes about a year. Make lots of notes. Gather data, facts, information, and put them in some sort of order. Don’t be too methodical about it though. The biographer Michael Holroyd says a very interesting thing: if your filing system is vaguely chaotic, when you’re looking for one thing, you’ll find something else. If your system’s perfect you don’t do any of the little detours that get you acquainted with your subject and allow you to discover other things. • Get a feel for the environment of your novel. Your notes don’t have to fill volumes. Collect visual imagery and pin pictures round your desk – they convey much more than text. • When your imaginative picture of your subject area becomes complete, coloured enough, do nothing for two or three weeks before you start writing. Mentally, throw your notes away, and try not to think about it consciously any more. It’s all there, going on in your mind, and then gradually the story comes into being. • Don’t start with the whole story, else there’s no element of discovery. Have a vague notion of plot: think of the novel as a series of hills over which you find a path as you go along. Beyond these there’s the ocean, the end of the novel, where there’s a boat bobbing, perhaps an image that holds it together. • You don’t need to stick rigidly to a plan; a different ‘truth’ may emerge as you write. If you’re not certain of what you’re going to be writing that day, put ‘Try this’ at the top of the page, so it looks quite contingent. • The writing process is adventure, a journey each day you sit down to work. It takes about a year, working a solid seven hours a day. • When the novel is complete, leave a gap of time when your editor, or whoever, reads it. Finishing is an important stage, as you can’t see everything the first time and it will have to be refined. Things can always be better. Get a feel for the environment of your novel. Your notes don’t have to fill volumes. Collect visual imagery and pin pictures round your desk – they convey much more than text.
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