Written by Damien Kane | 19 October 2009

Over twenty years ago, I saw a competition in a local newspaper to write a short story that had to contain the line: And all that could be heard was the sound of gently lapping water. There was a prize, although I can't remember what it was. This was during my pre-teens and I had been hammering at typewriters for years, finding much amusement in stringing letters together to make words which in turn made stories (yes, the secret of writing).

I wrote the typical man/werewolf story, and when he was not a werewolf, he knew what he had done and tried to dilute his guilt, but with every murder his guilt increased until he could no longer live with himself. So, he went up a mountain and jumped to the rocks below during a shallow tide. The character was a very likeable fellow. Even today, over twenty years later, I think about how that man was feeling at the time, how twisted he must have become, knowing he had killed and yet powerless to stop himself. In hindsight, it was a Jekyll and Hyde story.

I have no recollection of whether I submitted the story. Many more followed until my teenage years. All of those stories are sadly lost but I don't care. I had fun, nerdy as some made me out to be. Now, I believe, I am at the time in my life where I've written millions of words, and the apprenticeship is over, and my mind needs to switch to the future. It has been a long time coming. So, within the next two weeks, a synopsis and cover letter for my first novel The Badman will be shipped to my preferred publisher.

I am under no illusions about the publishing world. If it's rejected, I move on. Rejections are more common than acceptances. I don't intend to beat John Creasey's four hundred or so rejections before a first novel is accepted, but it isn't as though I will give up after so many. John didn't, and he wrote more than 500 novels! I don't think I will be that productive, but neither, I expect, did he when starting out. I know I have the potential to be an author.

I don't know how but I can write a full length novel in three weeks while working full time, three kids, playing online games, reading a lot, family commitments and outings, chronic fatigue syndrome (at least college is at an end), and this is all before my other hobbies. I think keeping busy makes me busier. I like dreaming up tag lines for my novels which I am hoping will appear after the deadication (not a typo). The Badman tag, which appears at the top of my blog, is: "There is no such thing as life or death; just here and there". I simply can't get that quote out of my head. I usually work on three or four novels at any given time: The Badman is finalised, The Evil needs an additional re-write, Mr Hat needs somebody to review it. I am doing a first re-write of A Place Beyond which I have renamed Aminal – a play on a word from one of the hillbilly characters in the story who for the life of him, can't say 'animal' properly but thinks he does, much to his brother's frustration (And there's another quote in that novel that I can't get out of my head: "Sometimes, dead isn't dead enough").

I am not frightened of the submission/rejection process. I am wary of time, of getting it right, and a feeling of – no, not excitement – accomplishment – even though it hasn't been published – for simply knowing I succeeded in finalising a novel. I have always struggled with re-writes, but now it's more natural and I am finding that I enjoy it.

So, two weeks to get the damn synopsis right. It's still being re-written. They are difficult things to perfect. I have now drafted out my two short sentence tagline for a second novel in my "Chronicles" series, which fits in with the first novel perfectly, and that first novel will be looked at after my Aminal re-write, then I'll move on to the second "Chronicles" book.

I am amazed at the inner workings of the unconscious and the workings of the muse. I have read so many books on writing, about so many skills and 'rules', hundreds of tips and articles, yet it is rare that a publication says that the first rule of writing is to WRITE. Only by writing can one find that secret inner voice, that engine, the ability to construct, that inner confidence and passion, the ability to unconsciously create, know where paragraphs should end, when to elevate the odds, develop characters. One cannot expect to learn how to swim by reading a book, how to breathe effectively, how to synchronise limbs and breathing. How can one expect to write novels without — you know — writing!

I have no idea why writing is so addictive.

Read more of Damien Kane's blog at  http://damienkane.blogspot.com