On a whirlwind tour to promote Best Kept Secret, the third installment in the five-part epic, The Clifton Chronicles, one would think that by now Jeffrey Archer would have overcome his reluctance for giving interviews. Yet, this 73-year-old bestselling author goes about the task stoically, almost with a sense of resignation, as he talks to Avantika Bhuyan about his latest book and a day at his writing desk
Everyone wonders what really goes in the mind of an author when he gets down to writing epic sagas. Some people derive inspiration from chaos, while others work best when organised. What is your day like when you are writing a book?
Well, I prefer to be more disciplined. I wake up at 5.30 every morning and start writing at about 6 am. I write for two hours and then take a break. I write for eight hours every day, taking two-hour breaks in between. And by 9.30, I go to bed. Usually it takes me six weeks to write a first draft and I try to produce around 14 to 15 drafts for each book.
I was reading somewhere that you have a bit of fetish. That your Pilot pens and pencils need to be positioned just right on your writing pad, with your spectacles on the left. In addition, everything needs to be in straight lines. Is that true?
I keep reading this as well. It's really strange, But yes, I am a stickler for neatness. I like my desk neat and organised. I really would not want any surprise on my desk, that's for sure.
Writing is a creative art. And yet there is a science behind it in the way you build characters, the way you take the story forward. How does the process work for you?
I feel that storytelling is a god-given gift. But having said that, one needs to work really hard on honing that gift. For instance, if you are a pianist and you want to appear at the Carnegie Hall, then you have to work really hard. Similarly, when you want to tell a good story and want people to read it, you need to put in great amount of work.
Could you tell us a little bit about your latest book, Best Kept Secret?
So, the series traces the journey of Harry Clifton who was born in the back streets of Bristol. The second book, The Sins of the Father, covered the span of 1939 to 1945 and was about how different people saw the war. The third book opens in 1945 with a legal battle on who will inherit the Barrington fortune - Harry Clifton or Giles Barrington?
I believe you are working on the screenplay for Paths of Glory. How easy or difficult is it for an author to adapt his own book for the big screen?
Well, yes, it is extremely difficult. But there is a huge advantage in the fact that you know the story really well. Right now Paths of Glory is being made into a film by Columbia and I have also written a screenplay to my novel False Impression.
Besides producing a series of bestselling novels, you are a writer of short stories as well. How different are the two mediums for an author?
To put it simply: for a short story, I know the ending, but for a novel, I don't have a blooming clue!
I believe that your first novel, Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less got turned down by 14 publishers. Any word of advice to aspiring writers?
There are two ways in which one can become a writer. Either you are well educated and can write or you have a god-given gift. It is the latter that influences your ability to tell a story. One has to remember that it is only one book in 100,000 that gets published. So all the aspiring Indian authors out there who feel that they will become world famous by writing a book, I just want to say that one has to work really hard.
You are one of the most publicised authors in the world, and yet you don't seem very fond of giving interviews?
Yes, in a way, but going around the world on a publicity tour has its high sides. You get to see different countries and meet different people. What would I do sitting at home?
