In Behind the Pages, we take you on a journey through the daily routines and creative processes of some of the most famous authors in history. From John McPhee to Toni Morrison and Haruki Murakami, we delve into the methods and techniques that have allowed these writers to create some of the most iconic and celebrated books of all time.

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Jeffrey Archer is an English novelist, best-known for his 1979 book, Kane and Abel, which remains as one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 35 million copies sold worldwide.

When Jeffrey Archer was studying for his Diploma of Education at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, he was also a successful athlete, competing in sprinting and hurdling, and eventually he became the president of the Oxford University Athletic Club. Later on in his novelist life, Archer credited the discipline and competitive spirit of his writing career to his time at Oxford.

“The training to run and to be an athlete inculcated itself in me without realising it,” he said in an interview with The National. “So when I said I want to be a writer, that same brain said: ‘You wanted to go to the Olympics and now you want to be a writer? Well, then, you have to train hard, work hard and play for gold’.”

Since publishing his first book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, in 1976, Archer has gone on to write over 40 works, including novels, plays, non-fiction, children’s books, and short story collections. Over the years, his pace of publishing books hasn’t slowed, rather it has increased if anything.

“I used to write one every two years, but this has accelerated to one a year,” he wrote on his website. “It normally takes me about six weeks to produce a first draft. I then take a four-week break and get away from it. I come back and do another draft. That takes another four weeks, and I handwrite the whole thing out again.”

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Jeffrey Archer’s daily writing routine

When Archer is starting work on a new novel, he heads to his home in Mallorca in the January and February months to “enjoy the warmer weather and clear skies.” As a writer who is fortunate enough to have suffered from writer’s block, he’s gone so far as to name his Mallorca home, “Writer’s Block.”

On a typical writing day, the author works from 6am to 8pm, with multiple breaks in between.

Archer also says he often doesn’t know how his books will end. He will usually know the first four or five chapters in detail, and then outline the next 10. After those chapters, he’s typically in the dark on how the story will play out.

“As I write, I’m wondering what will happen on the next page,” Archer explained. “My theory is, if I wonder what will happen on the next page, there’s a good chance you’ll wonder what’s going to happen on the next page too! If you know exactly what’s going to happen two chapters down the line, you’ll give it away. If you don’t know, you can’t give it away.”

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Thanks for reading Reader, happy scribbling! Until next time.

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