Originality by Design: Musings from a New Author ~by Philip Yorke

Musings from a New Author ~by Philip Yorke

I have often heard it said that everyone has at least one book in them. And this may be true – but I know very few people who have actually tested out the theory.

A lack of confidence, a lack of time, or simply a lack of willpower, often results in so many of us not taking up the writing challenge.
But if you do have that inner burning desire, one that keeps prodding and poking you at the most inconvenient of times, then there is some good news to share: writing a novel is far easier than it might seem!

Believe me, I know: I have recently published my debut novel. Privately, it is something I had wanted to do for years. Yet I always found a reason to get off the subject when somebody mentioned writing, publishing and my name all in the same sentence.

The truth is, I had it all wrong. I thought you needed to have the perfect plot, chapter structure, and process all ready to go. How little I knew. The reality is I needed none of these things. A germ of an idea is all that was required, a bit of a plan (understanding where you are going to go with the opening three or four chapters), and a handful of believable characters. That’s all it took to get going. Honest.

Of course, because I write historical fiction, there was also the small matter of identifying the period I wanted to write about. But that was an easy choice: I love the seventeenth century, particularly the 20-year spell between 1640 and 1660 – when Britain was gripped by a brutal civil war and the monarchy come to an abrupt and dramatic end for eleven years.

In real terms, my choice was a very easy one.

Difficulties did arise when trying to identify some of the characters I would write about. But, once I got going, that was also a relative walk in the park.

Charles the First

I had devised a main character profile one day when there was no sport on television, my wife and the children were out shopping and the cat had also abandoned me! Unsurprisingly, perhaps, given the setting of my book, I opted for a stoic male whose allegiance was to Parliament. He was a man of faith (as were the vast majority of people at the time), a mid-ranked army officer, and an individual who was in conflict with at least one of his brothers – members of his own bloodline who had chosen to support the cause of King Charles the First.

When I had finished making my notes, I looked at what I had written. At first it seemed implausible and unrealistic, a million miles away from what I perceived the period to be like. How wrong I would turn out to be!

Several weeks after I had drawn up the details of my main character, I visited the National Civil War Museum. It is not sited in London, but in Newark in the East Midlands. I live in Leicestershire, just a 40-minute car journey from the historic town.
I remember walking into the museum and sitting down to watch a video about the civil war. It told the story of a family who lived in the Midlands. They had been torn apart by the conflict. Two of the sons had sided with the King; a third had become an officer in the Parliamentary army. They were a devoutly religious family, yet they couldn’t agree on some of the most fundamental things. So the brothers went their separate ways and by 1643 were firing leaden musket shot and cannon balls at each other across the River Trent. Literally.

As you can imagine, the video left me speechless: somehow, completely by chance, I had found my dynamic main character!
His name is Francis Hacker.

In 1643, Francis was in his mid-20s; he was married to an incredible woman (Isabel) six years his elder; he and his two brothers lived within ten miles of each other, and in May of that year, one of these brothers was killed in a skirmish close to Francis’s home, most probably shot by a member of the Militia my main character commanded.

Oliver Cromwell

From this moment, everything seemed to happen in a bit of a blur.
I started to use the Internet to research my man. What I discovered confirmed I had made the right choice, for Francis was a man who was right at the heart of the English Civil Wars. He became a close friend and confidante of Oliver Cromwell; he was twice offered the opportunity to swap sides and take command of his own regiment in the King’s army, only to scornfully decline the chance to swap sides; and he was also one of the 59 men to sign the death warrant of Charles the First in 1649.

The more I dug into the man and his exploits, the more I discovered.

But my biggest ‘find’ – the one that convinced me I had a potentially great story to tell – was the discovery that Francis’s story had largely been forgotten. Although he was a great military leader, he was a poor orator, something of an introvert. That meant the other regicides made far more noise than he did. And because their voices were louder, historians have had a far easier job piecing their lives together and telling their respective stories.

With Francis Hacker in the bag, and supporting characters like Rowland and Isabel in the bag, I began the exercise of finding the rest of the supporting cast.

In the early 1640's, Cromwell was a relatively unknown figure. He was a Colonel in Parliament’s Eastern Association Army. Some basic checks on my part revealed the early years of the Cromwell story is not well known. And as Francis and Oliver became good friends (a fact), this was an area I needed to focus on. And I did.
But what I really needed to find was a good anti-hero.

Some might say I have already done this in Francis, as stories about this particular period tend to paint the Parliamentary side as the bad guys, and the cavaliers as the defeated goodies! But, as Rebellion demonstrates, I have a different perspective!

What I needed to find was a prominent Royalist, or two, who could convincingly be portrayed as individuals with purely selfish intent, perhaps even evildoers.

Prince Maurice

In this regard, I found Prince Maurice – brother to Rupert and, like his older sibling, a nephew to King Charles.

Maurice had cut his teeth on the battlefields of Europe, fighting in a conflict that is known as the Thirty Years War. He came to England in 1642, taking a commission in the King’s army and being a prominent figure in the west of the country.

The Maurice I portray is a man who displays Jekyll and Hyde tendencies in his character. On the surface, he is perfectly affable. Dig under the surface, however, and the Prince as ruthless and self-centred as they come. And it’s this Maurice that comes into conflict with Francis.

Supporting the Prince is a Bohemian mercenary called Gustav Holck, a man who is the personification of evil. If he were alive today, he would be diagnosed as a murderous psychopath. In seventeenth century England, at a time of the greatest bloodshed the country has ever known, Holck was a useful man to have on your side, his thirst for killing a desirable attribute!

Although the character of Holck is a figment of my fertile imagination, his development came about by researching some of the mercenaries who fought in the wars for both sides. They were not in England for noble reasons. They were here for personal gain and social advancement. And many of them were willing to do whatever it took to get noticed!

Last but not least, I needed to find a woman, or two, to provide some strong female input.

This was perhaps the easiest of all the character development tasks I had to undertake. For starters, I had Isabel Hacker as a starting point. She was a beautiful, loving, and intelligent wife and mother, a woman who Francis was besotted with. Her story is entwined with her husband’s. And it is equally riveting.

Lucy Hay

In addition, my extensive research also enabled me to stumble across Lucy Hay, who was widely regarded as the most beautiful woman of the age. She was a friend to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles, and a leading member of the Court. She was also a Parliamentary spy and the woman Alexander Dumas drew on when he developed his character, Madame de Winter, in his 1844 book, The Three Musketeers. The more I found out about Lucy, the more I realised she had to play a prominent part in Rebellion.

As did the character of Else, the long-time cook to the Hacker family. But that’s where I am going to draw the line with character development. I am not going to tell you anything about her, as that’s something reserved exclusively for readers of the book. If you want to find out about Else’s story (and it is worth reading, I promise), then you will have to get access to a hard copy or the eBook!

It’s fair to say that by the time I had finished all this work I was hooked. And at times, I am sure it must have appeared to my wife and family that I was starting to think I was Francis Hacker (I hear it’s quite common)!

So what does this mean for you?

Well, if I can do it, so can you. And I promise you, I am not just saying that. I really mean it. Like me, if you take the plunge, you will find your own path, and that may include a couple of false starts. And that’s okay.

All you have to do is start the process. The rest – including the passion you will need to sustain your endeavours – will quickly follow.

Good luck with the adventure.

For many years, Philip Yorke (known as “Tony”) worked as a

Philip Yorke

reporter on some of the biggest titles in British newspapers, where he specialised in news, business, and sports investigations.

His work won awards and regularly set the news agenda.

After leaving Fleet Street, Philip became a senior media adviser in the corporate world. More recently, he abandoned his suit and tie in favour of working for a UK-based charity committed to eradicating food poverty and food waste.

Philip has been happily married for 30 years and he and his wife have five children. In his spare time, he enjoys reading historical fiction novels, playing sport, listening to classical music, and visiting the theatre.

A man with a strong faith, Philip's beliefs are important influencers in the way he lives, works, and writes.

Today, he resides in Leicestershire, England. You can connect with Philip at the links below.