The write direction

How at the ripe old age of 77¾ I got round to writing my first novel

I've often wondered why authors would be prepared to devote their time developing a plot outline; imagining protagonists; research locations (easy for a London based tale when you're a cabbie); construct subplots; write a first draft; perform a structural edit; trawl through copy editing; proof read (this was also easy for this ex-typesetter); and finally publish.

Now I know the satisfaction experienced upon a book's completion.

Last year with encouragement from author Samantha Ford I rowed back with my daily posts on CabbieBlog.com and started writing. My novel centres around London's Green Cabbie Shelters, and I'm indebted to Stanley Roth who must be the Cab Shelter Oracle of Knowledge.

For many years I've found author's writing routines interesting: Anthony Trollope, for instance, would awake at 5am and write for 3½ hours, whilst checking his watch to ensure he wrote 250 words every 15 minutes, he'd even start a second novel should he have finished writing the first. He also worked for the General Post Office and is credited with introducing the, now red, pillar box.

Prolific author and frequent London cab passenger Jeffrey Archer (thank Jeff for the many times you and Mary Archer have used my cab), has a strict discipline when writing at his Thames side penthouse: starting at 6am he writes for two hours and then takes two hours respite, he repeats this all day until 8pm handwriting every word for the multiple drafts he writes for every novel.

My third, and favourite, London author is John Wyndham who lived at The Penn Club. In this busy and cramped small building in Bedford Place he knocked out some of the finest post-war science fiction work, including The Day of the Triffids, that was once used as a study book in my English classes.

Were all my efforts wasted work? Well, what a cathartic exercise being a 'novelist' proved to be. When retiring from work, after over 55 years, I needed some kind of structure in my life for, hopefully, the many years ahead.

Like many I'd been ruminating the concept and a plot for a decade, all I needed was the motivation.

Measuring my novel’s value by the experience of delving into my old brain cells for ideas, for the thousands of questions I have asked myself has certainly been a journey. Every character, description, conversation, plot line that I spent time writing and then deleted has enriched the novel experience of writing a novel.