A recent post by Adrian brought up the point of planning out plots and characters in your novels. He also mentioned roleplaying and video games. I’m actually an amateur (I’ve always hated that term, it really means ‘unpublished’) gamebook writer with also a keen interest in computer games varying between open world/RPG/action/stealth/FPS genres. While it may seem very slapdash, I too largely employ a ‘write on the fly’ method, developing characters, background, and plots to the story as I go. With it being a gamebook, however, the mechanics such as items collected, information learned, besides certain other factors affecting future encounters or choices, are always noted down so I can keep track of the overall gameplay. A general idea is laid down before writing itself commences, although it’s never necessarily set in stone, and always prone to author editing prior to the final version being made available to public viewing. Nevertheless, one of many examples ‘on the spot’ creativity: in one gruesome location, the player has the choice to venture further inside to retrieve a gold cross necklace. However, the chamber is plagued by the lost souls of those piles of bones littering the floor! The player must fight them off – both mentally and physically – to claim the prize which would prove handy in a later encounter. It was only here that three ideas were then formulated: what would await in the chamber itself, what would the artefact be, and how would it affect the adventure gameplay? Like I said, ‘on the spot’ creative writing. But it can’t be too bad a technique since your bestselling novels employ the same device – backed by painstaking historical research. I also sympathise with your urge to get on with the actual story; instead of having to spend so much time researching all the facts, despite the fact they’re necessary for authenticity. All of us here have a passion for history (amongst other interests and hobbies) yet there’s only so much time allowed us! On that note, wouldn’t it be great to be able to live for much longer as described in Peter F Hamilton’s ‘The Abyss Beyond Dreams’? Just imagine all the books we could write! :) Ah well, the comfort blanket of possibility….
Robert Douglas