Article; ‘Walking a different road’.
The writing of Iron Blood & Sacrifice.
I talk to other aspiring novelists on various forums and whilst impressed with their commitment and endeavour, talk of 3000 word per day challenges and producing a novel every two months just falls on deaf ears with me and I usually go elsewhere at this point. I have also found that these ‘pumped-up’ authors who proliferate these forums, are often the most cruelly critical to new members, falling well-short of the ‘constructive type’ in many posts. I wonder how they find the time to write three thousand words a day and troll the forums so effectively. The talk is inevitably about carving a career out of creative writing and how much they can earn from it. I have a completely different perspective and I walk a different road.
My degenerative physical condition forced me to quit writing as a freelancer, as the hours at the computer were highly detrimental to my condition and impacting the problem in my neck. So, I decided to get off the conveyor belt and begin writing for myself and in my own time. Ironically, I ended up working harder and longer than anything I had ever done as a freelancer, as the writing of Iron Blood & Sacrifice turned out to be a five-year undertaking, which in many ways is on-going.
As I was writing up the first draught, I realised that being 61 years old and in poor health, this was probably going to be not only the biggest thing I had ever written, but also one of the last. I have been on benefits for 15 years from my disability and remain as poor as a church mouse, so obviously any earnings that may one day accrue from these books would be most gratefully received. However, my motivation for writing these books has very little to do with income, as it was always about getting these ancient stories which had been rattling around in my head for as long as I can remember, down on paper (so to speak). It soon became something of an obsession, as I realised the import of these largely untold and forgotten tales and their connection to Wales’ most endearing legends and heroes, those of Mabinogion fame; Lludd, Caswallawn Fawr, Llefelys and Rianaw.
The more I researched, the more questions were thrown-up and I soon realised that the history of this truly ancient period is sketchy at best, riven with inconsistencies and contradictions at worst. I realised early-on that I had to steer my own chosen path through this minefield of conflicting, fragmented history and make of it what I could. It took almost a year to establish the historical time-line through my fiction, so that it followed the known history, and to weave-in the names of the known, along with my fictional names of the unknown. I came to realise too, that this trilogy was likely my ‘swansong’ and so I was determined to make it the very best writing I had ever produced. More, it became my way of honouring these long-departed ancestors and pay them eternal homage and respect in my own little way.
In the depths of this obsession, with the screen swimming in my vision, I would find myself pinching the bridge of my nose from a headache and realise that I needed a rest and a cup of tea. A quick time-check often revealed that it was 4 or 5 o clock in the morning and I had been working for 8 – 9 hours straight! Some days I would work for 14 hours but it was a very strange, tortured existence looking back on it. Gripped by this obsession and surviving on pain-killers and coffee, my mind would just fly-away, and my writing would become increasingly wild. Coming-to at whatever ungodly hour in the dark with my eyes raw and my head splitting, I would switch off and stagger to bed. This went on for seemingly endless month after month.
Whenever I reviewed that work the following day, it would always need the most proofing and editing, being full of misspelled words and erratic punctuation. It was like reading someone else’s writing in a way, a very strange sensation but I found my best creative writing amongst the drivel I’d produced in that state.
All of this was done on a second-hand Compaq laptop and as I didn’t have internet connection at the time, I had to list and batch-up my research requirements for the task in hand and download all the information at a friend’s house. Obviously you can’t arrive, say ‘hi’ and just open your laptop, so I walked a fine line with many of my friends when I was invited to visit or for dinner. However, all my friends are fine folk and so I received much support at this difficult time and managed to continue with my research. I was in no position to visit the locations featured in my books and so those which were unfamiliar to me, needed a lot more research and so I would find myself in one Café or another, or McDonalds furiously downloading photos of locations via their free wi-fi. Slowly, chapter by chapter I managed to write out Iron Blood & Sacrifice. As this went-on however, my health deteriorated at a similar rate to my obsession and so I had to take-stock one awful day, a day when I had talked myself out of calling an ambulance for my almost unbearable pain, three times.
I realised that what I was doing just wasn’t sustainable, as I was wracked by terrible pain and had lost over a stone in weight, not good for a skinny man. I realised too, that I had written almost 600,000 words! I had a kind of collapse then, from exhaustion and poor diet probably, needing almost three weeks of rest and good eating to recover. My best mate and neighbour Brian and his wonderful wife Mel kept me alive in this period and I can never thank them enough for their kindness and generosity.
All this then needed sorting out, like the wheat from the chaff and with a new, more sustainable regime at home. Due to the huge volume of text I had produced in my madness, far too much for one book, I realised that I should have been writing a trilogy from day one!
In two years, I have turned that huge volume of distracted gibberish, interspersed with half-decent writing, into three readable and coherent novels. I then purchased a book cover from a designer on Fiverr, (for a fiver) and from that initial drawing, I produced my three Book Covers using only Microsoft ‘Paintbox’. Then I published the trilogy as E-books via Kindle/Amazon and Smashwords, and the rest as they say is history.
Being bereft of funds I have never been able to print these books, so that I can ‘hard-copy’ proof them and you writers will appreciate how vital a step that is. Reading a printed copy is almost like reading someone else’s work and the errors and discrepancies jump out at you. In contrast, screen proofing causes word blindness and you always miss something. I hated publishing these novels without that crucial final step, but you can only do what you can do, and so I have to accept that there will be some errors here and there in punctuation. I follow the advice my late father gave me; ‘Don’t let what you can’t do in life, stop you from doing what you can!’
I have learned to achieve a balance in the time I spend writing now, as the bulk of the work is done, and I now spend the time polishing certain parts and perfecting each chapter, of each book in turn but I am saving a little money to get them printed soon. I spend a lot of time now marketing the book in all the free ways possible online and I write, or prepare a lot of blogs now, much of which are excerpts from the books. They are being well-received, as I get over 1200 reads a month currently, but this is yet to convert into any meaningful sales of the associated books.
I still suffer daily with chronic pain and so my writing time is very limited these days. I have another associated novel sketched-out to follow the trilogy and featuring the books’ main characters. I have ideas for two or three more books, all in the same era and based around these same established figures and individuals. However, I will need to be highly motivated in some form or other to even consider writing these, as I know well my inclination toward the obsessive when writing about my deeply held passion, and I’m not sure my body is up to it. Still, slowly – slowly I might have a go this year coming. Obviously, I am not looking to write three thousand words a day, not even three hundred. Neither am I motivated to attempt a novel in 8 weeks, and a growing readership is far more valuable to me than the few quid I’ve received from Kindle or Smashwords.
I put absolutely everything I had into these three novels and in every sense; physical, emotional and spiritual. Looking back, the actual writing was like some long, tortuous, three-year ordeal in physical terms but in psychological and emotional terms, it was a joy and a revelation. My focus now is on perfecting this trilogy and marketing it to the best of my ability with almost no budget. I’m sure it can be done, it’s just going to take time, but I’m convinced that these stories will be well received and not just by the Welsh, as they are full of action, adventure and humour at the end of the day. All I have to do now is get them out there.
I am comforted and often humbled by the efforts of my family and friends in my support and must thank them all for their help and belief. Buoyed by this aid and confidence from family and friends alike I push-on, ever hopeful.
Cymru am byth!
Eifion Wyn Williams.
Historical fiction blogger & author.
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