"It sounds like an awful cliche," he says.
"But it is like that. You know the beginning and you know the end. It's just the bit in the middle that you're not sure about. That's often the part that turns out to be the most interesting though. That's the bit that can be a revelation – to the author as much as anyone else."
Stephen, 58, is chatting at his Hebden Bridge home, just days ahead of the official unveiling of The Art Of Being Dead.
The book – its tagline "can you become a murderer by doing nothing?" is intriguingly seductive – is set in the late 1960s "in a bleak, northern English town."
The inspiration for the story which centres around 24-year-old Jonathan who "attempts to live his life without love, pain or commitment, unaware that in his desire to avoid action he will be drawn into a world of chaos, degradation and death," says Stephen "just arrived complete."
"It was just there, the whole story," he says.
I ask if parts are autobiographical and he confesses that yes, there are elements.
"To be honest though I find the character of Jonathan fascinating and it was one I wanted to explore. There are similarities. My parents for example were also drinkers and for most of my childhood I was usually ignored. Not neglected but left alone.
"My dad would get home around 2am and then decide that after not much sleep he'd run me to school in the car when I would really have preferred him not to.
"On one occasion he drove me in while still wearing his pyjamas and then promptly ran into the headmaster's car. Humiliating. You can imagine."
Stephen is originally from Rochdale and moved to Hebden Bridge with his wife, Judith, in 1980 – a move, he hints, that could possibly have been a catalyst for his writing.
"I had always wanted to write. The idea of it seemed romantic and I had always written stories – as well as poetry."
He reveals that before The Art Of Being Dead, he had already completed two other novels but has never sought to publish those.
But it was music that was to become a career initially and Stephen spent many years as a drummer with rock band Tractor, signed by John Peel's Dandelion Records label.
"I didn't realise Hebden Bridge was so full of writers when I arrived, I didn't realise it had so much talent," he says.
"I remember being in the pub on one occasion and there was a producer, two actors, an artist and a writer, all gathered round the bar."
He adds that being a rock drummer gave him the ideal opportunity to indulge in his passion for writing.
"Well you have to have times when you're bored so that your mind can explore other things and be creative," he says.
"But it's the excitement of putting words down, of creating a sentence with lots of individual words, that I love. I find it extremely satisfying. I love creating that perfect sentence.
"I also think it's important to get readers on side though, to give them something they can believe in. If you don't do that you have failed."
As a result he has produced a compelling story which he reveals is not driven by incident but instead, by his main characters' behaviour.
"I didn't want chapters and I wanted to split it into two sections, each one centering around a main protagonist. The fact that there are two could be confusing but I hope the reader won't see it that way."
His story unfolds around Jonathan, who because he has "a bit of money," is popular with people.
"People latch on to him and all of these characters are dysfunctional really but one in particular is a violent sort, looking for trouble.
"It's this relationship between the two main protagonists I wanted to explore," he explains.
The book has already been tipped as a best-seller and been entered for the Guardian First Novel Award but in the meantime Stephen just wants people to enjoy reading it as much as he enjoyed writing it.
"You do get close to your characters and I like mine. I hope others will too – or if not like them, understand them."
He admits to being a disciplined writer, preferring to work in the mornings – both in Hebden Bridge and at his home in Lezignan-Corbieres, in the Languedoc region of France, where he and Judith spend part of the year.
He reveals that he is already working on another novel. This one will be dedicated to his late friend, actor Drew Dawson, who played the role of gamekeeper Jock MacDonald in ITV's Emmerdale – "a fascinating man."
l The Art of Being Dead by Stephen Clayton is published by Bluemoose Books Ltd and available at Fred Wade, Halifax, The Bookcase, Hebden Bridge, Bookthrift, Hebden Bridge and all branches of Waterstones. Stephen will be holding a number of talks about the book, including during Calderdale Readers' and Writers' Festival in October. He will be at Elland Library on October 3 at 2pm (tickets 01422 374472) and King Cross Library on October 15 at 2pm (tickets 01422 361595.) For more details visit www.bluemoosebooks.com