The perfect environment to write your first novel - Princess Cruises

So, what does it take to write a novel? While I may not be an expert I can at least share the experience from the perspective of someone who has done it before. I can't promise these tips will work for you, but they might.

Since a young boy I have always wanted to write but as we all know things during your life seem to get put in your way. In a large majority of cases the biggest need in life is to make a living to support a lifestyle that usually entails marriage, mortgage then children, not necessarily in that order.  In my life, so far, there has never seemed to be the right moment to realise my dream, this may be the case for you too. Spare time outside our working hours is greedily taken up by what we generally call maintenance of our family and home which usually entails; taking our kids to their sporting actives on the weekend, helping our partner with the house cleaning and shopping plus the garden is always crying out for more attention.  This maintenance often appears to be a bottomless pit!

It wasn't until I decided to take a cruise sailing out of Fremantle on Princess Cruises Sun Princess with my beautiful wife Christine, some 3 years ago, that it became obvious, after the first day onboard, that this would be the perfect place to start my writing.

Why is a Princes Cruise the right environment, you may ask?

Once you step onboard a Princess Cruise voyage, to coin the phrase used in Princess Cruises promotional material, you escape completely. It is a promise they don't fail to deliver.  You have a well appointed Stateroom with first class service from your friendly and knowable steward who keeps your cabin in tip top shape. You are free from all the day to day demands of life. On board your Princess cruise life is made so very easy for you. The Horizon Court buffet will welcome you 24 hours of the day and is a haven for all tastes. There are four set meal times for you - breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and of course dinner.  Even the fussiest eater will find a wide range of food to their taste.  When it comes to washing clothes, not a problem – just give them to your cabin steward and the next day you will have them back sparkling clean and pressed. No meals to think about or prepare no washing to do – what to do with this spare time, indulge in your passion and start writing!

There are many places onboard to start your writing. You can sit out on your balcony, head off to the library, a public room, or onto the Promenade deck and grab a deck chair. There are many places onboard where you can find a quiet corner to sit and contemplate where to start the process of writing your first novel. Here are a few tips.

Plotting – What better place to begin than incorporating your story line around the cruise you are on. Some writers plot out every twist and turn beforehand and some people just write. Although I've always been a 'write first and think later' kind of author, I'm slowly coming to appreciate having a detailed outline to work from. One reason is because I now write to deadlines. Writing to a plot keeps me on track.

Characters – Again cruising is a great place to just sit and 'people watch'.  Building your story through the use of many interesting characters you see from the crew and of course the passenger list can be the beginnings of a good read.  I have 'good' and 'evil' characters in my novels. The conflict this generates is more than enough to escalate things to a satisfactory climax and conclusion. I don't spend too much time developing bit players, unless they become more important during the writing. If someone's only going to appear in your book for one paragraph, treat them like a piece of furniture. Also, try and limit the number of characters.

Scenes -  Are the story units, and there are one or more of these per chapter. Again what is happing around you every day will help you. Take the many interesting ports of call. In my case South East Asia. Your Scenes can be built around your characters activities in these exotic ports.  

Bangkok. Temples with gold leaf spires harbor priceless Buddha's. Riverboat trips down a maze of canals.

Ho Chi Minh City. Clouded in history.  Over three decades have passed since the fall of Saigon. Now it is a bustling metropolis on the Mekong River. The air is filled with the cries of street hawkers and honking horns.

Kuala Lumpur. Is a melting pot of Malays, Chinese, Arabs, Hindus, Eurasians and Europeans.  A place where steel and glass towers stand side by side with graceful stone colonial buildings and mosques adorned with slender minarets.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Pristine beaches and crystalline waters with some of the finest big game fishing in the world.

Singapore. The very name summons visions of the mysterious East. Buddhist temples and Arab bazaars await you with some of the finest duty free shopping in the world.

I can go on and on. These ports will make a wonderful backdrop for your story as you will experience them yourself first hand. You also have the facility of the internet on board to do any further research for your book.

Revisions - Don't bother…finish writing the book. You will have plenty of time for improvements later, and it's easy to kill a book by being too critical during the writing process. You're not trying to produce finished work at this stage - remember, by the time a major publisher releases a book it's been through several drafts and has also had input from a professional editor and a proof reader. Think of your first draft as a block of raw material, from which you will chip your finished work. Throw everything into it! Don't worry about inconsistencies and dead ends they can be trimmed out afterwards.

A Princess cruise has everything in place for you to write your first novel whether you use the cruise as a backdrop or not.  If you look around you onboard you will see nearly everyone has a book in their hands and during the daylight hours are buried in it.

What a thrill I got on our last cruise when Christine, who had been watching the city skyline of Singapore pass by, caught a passenger more interested in reading their book. On closer inspection she found it was my novel Butterfly in a Glass Bottle being read!

Why not book a cruise and follow in my footsteps and start writing.  I am onto my second book and yes I am using all the characters and experiences I gathered from my previous cruises.   

Lady Gaga's Ghostly Solution

I was somewhat shocked then intrigued when I read an article in an Australian Newspaper (The Adelaide Advertiser 07^th October 2010) featuring a story on one of the sublime entertainers of our time, Lady Gaga, and her obsession with ghosts.

 

The news item went on and I quote:

            "The eccentric singer is terrified of evil spirits and reportedly has every hotel and tour venue scanned by a team of paranormal investigators before she will agree to stay there, according to Britain's Grazia magazine."

            "The 24-year-old pop star – who has previously said she believes she is the reincarnated spirit of her dead aunt – has also allegedly splashed out £30,000 on state of the art Electro Magnetic Field meters to detect spectres."

            "A source said: "She believes in paranormal activity and won't take any risks when she is on the road. It's important to her to be safe from spirits."

 

My first response to Lady Gaga's plight was one of surprise for I truly believe that no one in today's world should ever be terrified by spirits from the Other Side. It is purely an emotional reaction to the situation.  My second response was to ask myself if Lady Gaga had sought the guidance of a Medium of the calibre of a John Edward or the prominent British Medium John Myers. Both these men are well respected on the world stage and if allowed would counsel Lady Gaga and set her free from her misconceptions.

 

I have no doubt that Mediums of the quality that I have just listed would be able to get in contact with Lady Gaga's dead aunt thus demonstrating to the singer that she is truly a unique individual in her own right. In time they would be able to free this fabulous entertainer from her crippling fears.

 

A meeting with a prominent medium could be done in private but I would look to do it in a more open manner. I would incorporate it in Lady Gaga's concerts at the half way point of the show. It would take the format of an arm chair chat, centre stage, with both parties.

 

This would have two major benefits. The first one being that Lady Gaga would be surrounded by her adoring fans and the singer may feel more comfortable in a large gathering confronting her fears of the spirit world.  

 

The second point is more vital it would allow the fans to feel that they have been taken into Lady Gaga's confidence and are a vital part of her world in sharing with her this experience, instead of just being donators of cash through buying merchandise of the singer. It would also help any of Lady Gaga's fans who have the same misconceptions as she currently has by allowing those fans also to shed their fears of the Other Side and its occupants.

 

Lady Gaga leads the music industry in so many ways with sublime talent, if only she could find the same internal strength to face this problem and conquer it who knows where it may lead her. A new direction in her song writing? A more spiritual "voice" in the world? - boy do we need it.

 

I would be interested in any of your thoughts just drop me a line and I promise I will return your message.