I happily confess that I am a big fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books. Her plots are intricate and clever, her historical context is fascinating, her dialogue is realistic and witty, and her characters are vividly drawn. Then there is the love story of Jamie and Claire; theirs is surely one of the strongest bonds in literature, and so passionate.

While Diana has long had a loyal following of readers, the recent televisation of the first novel, with the fantastic (and very attractive) actors Sam Heugha and Caitriona Balfe, has brought the story and characters to the public’s attention – and deservedly so. I await Series 2, due to launch in April, most impatiently!

I love the Outlander books as a reader. But I love them even more as a writer. Diana Gabaldon has famously shared the origins of Book 1, Outlander (source: Scotland Now):

I was thinking a historical novel might be the easiest kind of book to write for practice when I happened to see a really old Doctor Who re-run.

Jamie struck me with his attitude and male gallantry and I thought the kilt was rather fetching.

I was thinking about that the next day in church and decided to set the book in Scotland in the 18th century.

I had no plot, nothing, just this notion of a man in a kilt.

I called my man Jamie but otherwise he has nothing in common with Jamie from Doctor Who.

From there, she began writing – and encountered she who would become the heroine of the series:

On the third day of writing I introduced this English woman, no idea what she was doing or how she got into the plot.

But I introduced her to a cottage full of Scotsmen to see what she would do.

They were all sitting around the hearth muttering and when one of them drew himself up and said, ‘My name is Dougall Mackenzie and who might you be?’, without stopping to think I just typed, ‘My name’s Claire Elizabeth Beecham and who the hell are you?’

I said, ‘You don’t sound at all like an 18th century person’ so I fought with her for several pages trying to beat her into shape and get her to talk like an 18th century person.

She wasn’t having any of it.

She kept making smart ass modern remarks and she took over and started telling the story herself and I thought, ‘Go ahead being modern and I’ll figure out why later’.

So it’s her fault there is time travel in the book.

Diana told Scottish Memories magazine:

I didn’t really know anything whatever about Scotland at the time, save that men wore kilts, which seemed plenty to be going on with. When I began writing, I had no plot, no outline, no characters, and knew nothing about Scotland and the 18th century. All I had was the rather vague images conjured up by a man in a kilt. Which is, of course, a very powerful and compelling image! Scotland grew on me quickly, as I did research and began to sense the personality of the place and its people.

Diana’s writing process differs from mine: I don’t begin writing and see where the characters and story take me; I plan my stories carefully before setting pen to paper. But her journey with inspiration resonates deeply with me:

• I find inspiration from all kinds of places, including the visual arts. Often, like Diana, the inspiration is abstract – just a fleeting moment or a concept that strikes a chord. A person, whether in real life or on the screen, can also light the flame. For Indiscretion it was a gypsy I saw on a French beach that made me dream.

• When I open myself up to the muse, a story idea evolves rapidly. I tend to be accosted by ideas day and night, and over the years I have learned to accept this as natural in the creative process. Within days, the story is knitting together and the characters are materialising.

• The hero comes first! To write romance, I need to be feeling the romance, and that means being a little in love with the hero myself. Quite honestly, dreaming up the hero is the very best part of being a romance novelist!

• The heroine has to take form early on. Once I have a firm sense of who she is – how she looks, talks and feels –then the plot begins to make sense. I recall the day Coral, heroine of my debut novel Burning Embers, walked into my head; it was like making a new friend for life.

• All of my books are set a little way back in history, but like in Outlander, the heroines stand out in their eras as strong, feisty women. When I’m planning a book, I dream up all kinds of scenarios and plunge my heroine into them, to see how she will react. Often, like Diana’s experience of Claire meeting Dougall, the resulting exchange is very illuminating!

• Story also comes first for me, before historical context. Clearly, for Outlander the author did very detailed and thorough research and interwove that into the story. This is what I endeavor to achieve in my own writing as well. Once I have planned the plot and got to know the characters, I research the setting and era carefully through a variety of mediums, from reading books and watching documentaries to listening to music and eating the local cuisine – and, of course, travelling to gain first-hand experiences.

I find the background of how writers create their works fascinating. Are there any ‘stories behind the stories’ that inspire you? Do you admire Diana Gabaldon’s process? Perhaps you hope the same series of inspirational flashes will happen to you? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.