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THE WRITERS' THINK TANK
The Writers’ Think Tank is where our authors mull over the challenges of creating their works, in the hope of illuminating readers and maybe helping other writers. |
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Entertainment or Morality Tales?
This is now the third session of the Writers’ Think Tank, and this time we’re talking about the ‘engaged artist’. Is the goal of novel writing restricted to providing a lot of fun for the writers and the readers, or should it have a deeper purpose? Should authors be obliged to make their readers face up to the problems of the world? Do we write to amuse or to educate? On the panel this month we have some old hands and one new expert. So let’s meet the panel.
And my name is James Gault. I have written four novels and also some English language textbooks
James: Thanks to all of you for taking part and a big welcome to Rob. Let let me begin with a confession: I’m a bit of a boring, pedantic old sod. All my writing is inspired by some crazy romantic notion that I can right wrongs, point out to everyone the error of their ways, and somehow save the world from itself. So the topic for today is: Am I normal, or am I a weird aberration?
Do you guys also write to educate or inform readers about important issues? Or do you write to give them pleasure? Rob: Give a pleasurable read I hope. I try to write with my tongue in my cheek with some humour.
Ted: Pleasure and if I accidently reveal some “truth” or the “meaning of life” then all and good. My feeling is there is enough horror, boredom and opinion masquerading as fact out there. In my past, I had to read scientific papers and Government White Papers trying to uncover the hidden turds and gems buried in the detail. I fail to see why anybody would read a dull litany of worthy and inciteful thoughts looking for the hidden truth when they could flick through twitter and find the same summed up in bites of 250 characters. With the (alleged) attention span of gnats why would anyone turn over the page unless they find it entertaining? James: Not much support for the morality tale concept so far, so maybe I really am a bit of an oddball. Ladies? Kyrian: I write fiction, first and foremost, to entertain and delight, but, because I believe a good book also educates in some way, I always hope people will come away from the book having learned something. I write non-fiction for the purpose of sharing experiences and knowledge that will help others, and with that I hope to be entertaining or, at least, interesting. James: Well, that seems about 70% pleasure and 30% serious stuff. Sally, do you write to educate or to entertain your readers? Sally: To give them pleasure – I would not be so bold [or arrogant] as to think I could educate my readers on important issues. I hope though that they are informed on subjects that enter into the book that some people might not be aware of. My feedback tells me for instance that some of the topics I introduced or alluded to in my most recent book were at least informative. Here is where research has to be really meticulous as I would hate to mislead! James: In general then, it seem that, unlike me, all of you think that, in fiction, providing enjoyment is the top priority and raising issues is at best secondary, if it’s there at all. But would you agree that even a book written for entertainment should have some kind of moral? Ted: No, but then there is no reason why they shouldn’t have. A novel may be anything from a piece of escapist flimflam (like most of mine) through to a thinly veiled allegory for the situation in Palestine. The author presents their words to the reader, but it is the reader’s choice to make the purchase and read the words. Sally: Not necessarily. Again, the same goes as for my previous answer – a writer shouldn’t be so arrogant as to think they are there to guide their readers’ morality. However, lots of good novels have had a moral – it depends how it is presented. Kyrian: It depends on what it’s about, but I would say, not necessarily. James: And Rob, do you think novels should have a moral? Rob: No for me they shouldn't. And in the main that's what spoils American movies, sitcoms and dramas. Morals. Always gotta end on a moral. James: Looks like I’m out on a limb again. I guess you’re all telling me to lighten up. I mean, I do aim to write amusing and engrossing stuff, but it always has to have some kind of moral lesson. Maybe I should be writing for Hollywood or American TV, Rob? But if you do write about social issues, are you entitled to be biased? Kyrian: Yes, of course, especially in non-fiction, and with fiction, some things are very personal, but, for the most part, I think it’s important to get inside the heads of your main characters, the good and the not so good ones, and understand things from their perspective, In that regard, you put bias aside. Ted: Unlike journalists there is no duty of balance placed on fiction authors. In fact a lack of balance can be a good thing as well as bad. Robert A. Heinlein’s book Starship Troopers, written in a few weeks in reaction to the U.S. suspending nuclear tests, has caused controversy and debate almost page by page since publication in 1959. I always write positively about naturism and the rule of (good) law because these are both of interest to me. Sally: Of course! They have their own opinions, sometimes strong ones and are entitled to present the story from their own viewpoint – just don’t expect everyone to agree. Also don’t expect everyone to want to read a book that has obvious bias. Rob: Writers can write from any particular angle they like, as far as I'm concerned. Whether I'll read it is a different matter. Writers keep on writing. Readers keep on reading, critics keep on carping, words just keep on coming. Get yer rocks off, get yer rocks off honey... James: We seem to agree that even authors are entitled to their own opinions about issues and to express them. But what issues creep into your work? Ted: Liberté, égalité, fraternité … maybe that is why I live in France. The need to respect other people’s freedom to be different, within the law and other peoples freedoms. Every lifestyle has an equal value and should be respected unless it infringes another person’s freedom. Enforced female genital mutilation is wrong, it infringes on another person’s well being, happiness and right to free expression. Whereas a woman choosing cosmetic vaginal surgery is totally acceptable. Circumcision of young boys is no different. Rob: In one lifetime I was a Marxist sociologist so I wrote about the inequalities in society: the inequities of the Capitalist system and how the Revolution was on the horizon just as Marx predicts. The West is bankrupt morally and financially, so it's still on the cards. Now I write fantasy in my novels. And in my short stories I have been investigating the social condition. Such as Prepping, Dumpster Diving, and so on. In my dotage I have also become more reflective of my own experiences in this world. Writing vinaigrettes of my travels. And a full blown memoir of my time in China. James: Kyrian and Sally, what social issues creep into your work? Kyrian: Bigotry, mental health especially anxiety, trauma, abuse Sally: I don’t like political extremism – of any kind, and have been known to incorporate that into my writing… James: Ah-ha! I think that under your ‘let’s have fun’ personas you guys are just as fired up about issues as I am. So my last question is: How do you infiltrate these issues you care about into your books? Kyrian: I try to handle them in the most honest way possible, and the truth can be quite harsh, so I’m not sure that such honesty’s a good thing. Ted: My hero/heroine is always on the side of what I consider right and opposes bigotry and discrimination. “Simples!” Rob: I guess I'm still a Marxist at heart. Let's meet on the barricades to discuss this further. Viva La Revolution! James: You know what? Perhaps I’m not all that out of line with you guys after all. It seems to me that you write fun with a serious side, and I do serious stuff with a fun side. Either way, our readers get rewarded with a good time and a few low-key life-lessons at the same time. Thanks to all of you for taking part. 
If you out there enjoyed our discussion and our thoughts, why not have a read at one of our books. You will find some of them on this page, or in the VOXLIT bookshop pages. Crossing the GendersIn this second session of the Writers’ Think Tank, our team of authors is considering the problems a writer faces when they are developing a character of the opposite sex. On the panel this month we have some members from last time and one new member. So let me introduce them.
Sherry Leclerc joins us for the first time this month. Sherry is a Canadian fantasy and science fiction fan and the author of the Seers series of novels. As a Literature graduate and teacher we always welcome her comments and contributions. She is a regular contributor to the Voice of Literature. Kyrian Lyndon is a poet and novelist from New York and is the author of two poetry books and the novel Deadly Veils Book One: Shattering Truths. Sally Dixon is a much-travelled language teacher turned author of two published novels. Ted Bun describes himself as a retired jack of all trades now living in France, who always has been a story-teller. He is a prolific writer of naturist and other fiction. Richard Savin is an ex-press agency journalist; throughout the seventies he worked in the Middle East and Asia covering politics, then gave it all up to become a chef restaurateur in London. His first book, non-fiction, was commissioned and published by Canongate. Since then he has written three novels. And my name is James Gault. I have written four novels and also some English language textbooks. James: Thanks to all you guys for taking part and it’s nice to see we have a perfect gender balance of three guys and three girls. I have often been told, mostly by women, that men don’t understand women well enough to write about them. Is there really that much difference between the sexes? Sally: Definitely – they think and respond to situations differently. Sherry: Well, I do believe there are essential differences in personality between men and women. The actual differences in our brains and physiologies can mean that we react to things differently. For example, when it comes to stress and depression, women can get sad and lethargic and men can become angry and volatile, as explained to me by a psychologist in the past. Also, despite all the talk of feminism and gender equality these days—which is a good thing, of course—the fact remains that there is still societal pressure for men and women to conform to certain gender norms. For men, it’s still not seen as “manly” to show emotion or to cry. They still often feel obligated to be the protector and the “bread winner” in the family. Even when the woman in the relationship has a good career, men often feel this way. Why? Because they grow up learning that it’s their responsibility. For women, we still grow up to believe we are mostly responsible for the household and for children. Career women often struggle with finding balance in their lives or feel like they need to be superwomen—they think they have to be able to do it all, even when they have a partner who is able and willing to take on some of those responsibilities. Career women are often also considered to be more emotional and more likely to crack under pressure than men in the same positions, though this is not really the case. Obviously, we’ve taken great strides in doing away with many of those old beliefs and expectations, but there is no denying they are still there to a large degree. These societal pressures and expectations can shape personalities and how a person responds in any given situation. James: It seems like Sherry is saying that there are a lot of differences but that society tends to over emphasise them. Does anyone else agree with that? Richard: Sherry has a point. It is always a little dangerous to generalise and whatever you say on this will raise storm clouds somewhere. Yes, for me, there are discernible differences in the way men and women re-act to given situations. Women will often hesitate and think where men simply strike out – possibly a primordial instinct based on the ancient gender roles of homemaking and hunting; which in turn were imposed by the demands of survival in a hostile environment. However, that is a blanket observation and is increasingly challenged by the world we now inhabit: the mould has been broken and the lines are increasingly blurred – hundreds of years of social conditioning have been stripped away. So, in developing my characters I try to shape their differences to the period they inhabit. Ted: I think that there are no significant differences. I grew up in a ‘gender neutral’ family, strong mother, lots of sisters with no roles ascribed, then spent most of my working in female-dominated environments, Of course, we have to consider social conditioning, things like clothing choices, drinking pints and being on diets. Gender is a spectrum from the Disney Princess to Rambo. Kyrian: I kind of agree and disagree with Ted at the same time. In terms of perception and how they would describe things, definitely, but, of course, we also have to take into consideration, every individual's uniqueness. James: I would say we all agree there are some differences between the genders, but how does this affect us as writers? For example, do you avoid having main characters of the opposite sex? Richard: I never shy away from writing about women; they form one essential half the world’s population and if the story demands a female protagonist then that is what I write. After all, in real life it is not always the men who lead the charge into folly – or heroic fame. Sherry: I do have main characters of a different sex from me in my books. To leave out the opposite gender would not be realistic. I admit that writing female protagonists is easier for me and, because of that, I do have more female protagonists. But I’d rather base who the protagonist is on the story itself and what would work best for the story. Kyrian: I do too. In the book I am currently writing, the point of view is shared by three different characters. Only one of them is a female. Ted: As a male writer of what headlines as Romantic Comedy I need a gender balance, although there are slightly more female characters because of a female gay romance. Sally: Yes, I too have main characters of a different sex in my books also of different nationalities and I try to make distinct differences in how they are seen to think and react. James: Well, all of us, including me, have protagonists of both genders, and we all think that there are differences between men and women, so I am wondering if writing from the opposite gender perspective gives you any problems as a writer. I have heard it said, for example, that men cannot build credible female leads. Ted: A rather sexist question! As I said earlier, gender is a spectrum and nobody is fixed to an exact point on that spectrum either. Sally: And I disagree too, there have been many famous authors who have written as women or vice versa. For example Douglas Kennedy usually writes in the first person with a woman as his principal character. James: Yes, that’s true. For me, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary spring to mind. Fine for the greats, but maybe we ordinary mortals can’t manage it so well? Sherry: I disagree. Anyone who is empathetic, open to looking at things from a different viewpoint, and who tries to understand other’s experiences can write the opposite gender. Luckily, these are traits that most authors have. Kyrian: I think it depends on the writer. Like anything else we tackle, it requires a good amount of research and exploration. I also have a male beta reader who would not hesitate to tell me if guys wouldn't talk that way to each other, etc. A brutally honest beta reader can help to make sure you're getting it right. The other thing is, I try to picture and hear everything with someone in mind or remember conversations with men, etc. The obvious thing is not to assume you can just get it right off the bat. Richard: I think it is a more difficult task to cross over gender lines but most of us are a mix; we have a little of x or y in our makeup and that should help. Classical literature demonstrates that both men and women writers can create convincing characters of either sex. The art surely lies in observation and inquiry. James: Well, you all seem quite comfortable creating characters of either sex. Any tips on how you do it? Let’s start with Sherry. Sherry: The best piece of advice I can give male authors for when they are creating female characters is to try and view things from your character’s perspective. The female experience is usually very different from the male’s. Everything you write in your female characters’ voices needs to be viewed from their perspective, which will of course be colored by their lived experiences. If a male author has trouble relating to their female characters, they can pick up fiction and non-fiction books written by female authors and try to listen to their voices, or the voices of their female characters. You can learn a lot that way. It’s how I deal with writing male characters. Kyrian: Apart from having a good beta reader, I think it's important to know what sort of woman you're writing about. Know everything about her. You don't tell everything you know, of course, but know her so well that you know what she'd do or say in any situation. All my characters have in-depth profiles. But it also depends on what type of book you're writing. I write literary fiction, so well-developed characters are important. If it's a genre-centered book, where the plot moves the story, you can get away with less character development, but know enough about the character to give her that uniqueness. Sally: Put yourself into the shoes of someone you know who is either male or female Ted: Don’t obsess about the gender of your characters. They are people first and last. Very few are at the extremes of the gender spectrum and all about football, beer, cars and having sex. The same thing applies if you are writing about men too! Richard: Keep away from stereotypes – I see a lot of book covers with men of steel, rippling with muscles and in dominating poses. Ladies, there is no superman; he doesn’t exist – live with it. James: Thanks to all of you for this good advice, but I have one more question. In my view, the task of portraying a character of the opposite sex is even more difficult when writing in the first person. How do all of you feel about that? Ted: I do it. I am writing the third book in a series (New House … ) where the chapters alternate POV between the husband and wife. I also have another book which is in multiple female first person voices (While Bees Sleep) Sally: I do it too. I am currently writing a novel that is narrated in the first person by several characters in turn, three of whom are male and one female Kyrian: And, it’s exactly what I'm doing now as well. Every character in my current WIP speaks in first person. I do notice when I write the female character's chapters, it's easier, but I love a challenge, so I end up having to take more time with the male POV chapters, re-read them more, have my male beta reader give feedback, and rewrite if necessary. They are certainly the most edited chapters of the book. James: Well, we have at least three brave transgender authors here. Sherry and Richard, is a first person novel something you could cope with? Richard: With great difficulty, though it would be fascinating to try Sherry: I think that writing a first-person novel where the character was male would be a challenge for me, but certainly not impossible. I’ve always been a ‘tomboy,’ as they say, though I don’t really like that term. It basically means that as a child, I liked to play with dinky cars, get covered in mud, play sports, and so on. As an adult, I will always pick an action movie over a rom-com and I love martial arts. These are things that those societal expectations say boys should like, not, girls, even though there is really no reason why it should be that way. My own husband, who is generally very forward-thinking, has even joked that I have more testosterone than him because of the things I like. This makes it easier for me to relate to men in some ways, but I would never presume that I think the way men do, simply because I am not a man. When writing male characters, I like to read fiction and non-fiction written by men, observe male behavior in differing circumstances and, when necessary, to ask my husband and/or male friends how to deal with certain things. When writing male characters, I try to think about what kinds of expectations would have been on them growing up to make them the men they are in my books. I try to think about the pressures they are under to act a certain way. I ask myself, is their behavior reflective of their internal voice, or do they behave a certain way because of what others will think. There are many things to consider when writing a character of the opposite gender, but it is worthwhile to try. Taking the time to read things in the male voice and to try and understand how men think can help me write better characters, yes, but it can also help me to better understand the men and boys in my life. James: Well, there you have it. I think we all agree that crossing the genders is a worthwhile, interesting and challenging task. But it can be done. I am reminded of something written about Lewis Grassic Gibbon: ...when the book Sunset Song was first published, one female critic thought the author was a woman because ‘no man could have made such a leap into essential femininity.’ I hope any authors reading this find the advice helpful. As for those who love reading books, I hope we’ve given you a little insight into the trials and tribulations of the creative process. If you would like to see the result of these creative struggles, you’ll find the novels of all of our panellists on amazon.com. Happy reading until next time. |
Charlie Simpson had it all. A partner who loved him, a best friend for life, and a cushy job in the family run firm in the City of London. When he arrives home to find his partner and best friend have run off to start a new life together, Charlie's world collapses in on itself. Now he's out to kill them both.
Mick Crooke is a mild-mannered student... The owner of a Triumph Trident, yes, he is a biker.
A meeting between a young man and a young woman. Set against the undercurrent of the all-pervasive violence of Britain the early 1970s. The aggressive youth culture and post-Kray Twins criminal underworld. 
For sixteen-year-old Danielle DeCorso, the old house in Glastonbury was an eerie place to grow up. Coping with mental health challenges exacerbated by a traumatic family dynamic, Danielle watches from the window for two men in a dusty black sedan who keep circling the house and harassing her with phone calls...
Three young women, three loves and three lives that are about to be changed forever. Caught up in a dangerous tide of extremism and racial tension, will Marianne, Sadime and Bea find what each of them craves?
When disillusioned detective Charlie Best finds himself the beneficiary of a substantial and unexpected inheritance, it’s his chance to escape from the thankless task of policing the violence and misery of Glasgow’s drug barons. He moves to a sunnier country and a brighter future. But a chance encounter in a Spanish bar and a pretty hitchhiker combine to draw him back into the murky world he had been trying to leave behind.
Don Loreto is convinced he is being haunted; bizarre phantoms are reaching out from the depths of his past and Don Loreto is scared. In the office of psychiatrist Lydia Kroll he tells of visitations by an old time carnival act: a small girl, a scarecrow and a harlequin goat. Lydia does not sign up to ghosts. As she digs into Loreto’s dark past it seems to confirm her theory of post traumatic stress disorder; but then strange and unsettling things begin to happen and Lydia is forced to rethink.
A Seer Champion sworn to protect Southgate. Talwyn Sevi must protect Southgate and its keystone against the evil forces that threaten their destruction. Knowing she cannot do it alone, she seeks help from a group of reclusive Dragon Shifters. Can Talwyn gain the Dragon Lord’s trust in time to save Southgate and the dragonkin?
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PREVIOUS THINK TANKS
Where does inspiration come from?
Welcome to this session of the Writers’ Think Tank. The topic for this month is inspiration. How do you overcome the dreaded writers’ block?
But before we begin, let me introduced our experts.
Kyrian Lyndon is a poet and novelist from New York and is the author of two poetry books and the novel Deadly Veils Book One: Shattering Truths.
Elizabeth M Hurst has always been a voracious reader since her preschool years and has recently left the world of automotive engineering to concentrate full-time on writing romantic and historical novels and on her freelance editing business. She is the author of the ‘Lost Souls’ series.
Sally Dixon is a much-travelled language teacher turned author of two published novels.
Cherise Castle-Blugh writes self-help books for entrepreneurs and is the founder and CEO of The Timely Entrepreneur TM, which offers advice to all independent business people.
Ted Bun describes himself as a retired jack of all trades now living in France, who always has been a story-teller. He is a prolific writer of naturist and other fiction.
Richard Savin is an ex-press agency journalist; throughout the seventies he worked in the Middle East and Asia covering politics, then gave it all up to become a chef restaurateur in London. His first book, non-fiction, was commissioned and published by Canongate. Since then he has written three novels.
Finally, my name is James Gault and I have written four novels and also some English language textbooks.
James: Welcome, panel. The question for today is this: When we are in front of a blank piece of paper, or more likely nowadays an empty computer screen, how do we ever manage to fill it up? In other words, how do we find a plot and how do we fill it with characters? Let’s start with plots. Kyrian, where do your stories come from?
Kyrian: There is inspiration everywhere. Whatever I write stems from something I'd witnessed, and my imagination takes over from there. Being inspired, for me, is the easy part. The hard part is putting it all together for maximum effect.
Elizabeth: The contemporary timeline for my tales takes place in the fictional English village of Fossbury, which is based on the real-life village of Ettington, outside historic Stratford-upon-Avon. It is an area steeped in history, especially all the Shakespearean associations, so it becomes very difficult, therefore, to choose an appropriate historical narrative to match with the modern romantic plot, purely because there are so many. However, after reading lots of books on folklore in the library, there is usually one snippet of an idea that stands out and nags away in my head. Then I know that's the one I have to write about.
James: I find these two quite different responses interesting. Kyrian seems to have a very wide-ranging approach to finding ideas, while Elizabeth does a lot of research, with a much more focussed approach. What about the others? Are you a brainstormer or a researcher when you’re looking for a plot?
Ted: My plots come from snippets of conversation within an existing story of my own: Where did X’s brother go … he got mentioned once, what is his story? I also use snippets from conversation in real life, so I always carry a notebook and pencil. And the really important one ... Never hearing the ends of radio-plays and stories while I worked as a Medical Sales Rep, in and out of the car, so I had to fill them in for myself.
Sally: As I write contemporary fiction, I get a lot of my ideas from news stories, either current or fairly recent events. For instance, three stories from this week's news will be incorporated into my WIP. I also research old news stories [and change the names of those involved of course] and incorporate these where needed in a particular storyline.
Cherise: The ideas for my books come from the issues that entrepreneurs are experiencing as they journey toward their success.
Richard: I guess I’ve been carrying around a lot of unwritten stories in my head over the years and I’ve now found the time to get them set down. I tend to write about WW2 because I lived through that war and have strong childhood memories of it. There again my latest novel is a psycho-thriller set in America in 2011 and that was inspired by a spooky photo I came across last year.
James: Richard already seems to have all the plots he could ever use. Lucky man! It seems that like Kyrian, Ted and Sally cast their nets widely in the search for stories, while Cherise and Elizabeth are much more focussed, maybe because they have a very clear idea of the kind of books they want to write. But wherever you find the plots, they all need people to bring them alive, so where do you get your characters from?
Ted: I like to think that mine are pure imagination, the female characters must be! The male characters probably have lots of me in them. I try hard not to drop people I know, alone and naked into the middle of my weird world!
James: I wonder if all of you are so kind to your friends as Ted.
Richard: My characters are driven by the story and its needs. I only start out with one or two; the rest just come along and barge in, shouting and demanding to be heard. Inevitably there are shades of those I know or have known in some of the characters but I try to keep them veiled.
James: I suppose in a sense all characters are there to serve the plot, unless it’s the other way round.
Sally: Sometimes my characters are taken from real life, sometimes based on family members or friends. But some are from pure imagination.
James: Here’s something that has always intrigued me; if you base a character on people you know, do they ever recognise themselves? Elizabeth, do you put people you know in your books?
Elizabeth: No. Each of my strong female characters have become people in their own right, really, although I think it's fair to say that they started life as an extension of different aspects of my own personality. I believe it's rather common, for writers of a series especially, that their characters blossom into much more than they perceived possible at the start of the exercise. I also spend a lot of time watching other people - sometimes it can be something as innocent as the way they flick their hair that will find its way into the story somehow. You just never know how the process is going to develop, sometimes...
Kyrian: Each of my characters can be based on one person or more than one person. I've known these people at some point in time. But, again, they provide a foundation, and my imagination will take over over, possibly embellishing to varying degrees. There are a few that were perfect to write about without changing them a bit. I'm at a point now where I also create characters from scratch, inventing their back-stories and everything else. Such fun stuff!
James: So there we are, everyone has their own way of ‘getting’ their characters. They can be based on one real person, who might well be the author. They can be an amalgamation of several people, or even entirely a work of imagination. But, as Kyrian and Elizabeth pointed out, inspiration is only the spark that’s sets the writer off. It has to be followed by a lot of work to turn the skeleton of a plot and the outline of its characters into a novel, or even a short story or a novella.
A big thanks to all our contributors for their ideas. If you want to know more about the authors who took part, see their books opposite and below, and click on their book covers to find out more. Until next time!
But before we begin, let me introduced our experts.
Kyrian Lyndon is a poet and novelist from New York and is the author of two poetry books and the novel Deadly Veils Book One: Shattering Truths.
Elizabeth M Hurst has always been a voracious reader since her preschool years and has recently left the world of automotive engineering to concentrate full-time on writing romantic and historical novels and on her freelance editing business. She is the author of the ‘Lost Souls’ series.
Sally Dixon is a much-travelled language teacher turned author of two published novels.
Cherise Castle-Blugh writes self-help books for entrepreneurs and is the founder and CEO of The Timely Entrepreneur TM, which offers advice to all independent business people.
Ted Bun describes himself as a retired jack of all trades now living in France, who always has been a story-teller. He is a prolific writer of naturist and other fiction.
Richard Savin is an ex-press agency journalist; throughout the seventies he worked in the Middle East and Asia covering politics, then gave it all up to become a chef restaurateur in London. His first book, non-fiction, was commissioned and published by Canongate. Since then he has written three novels.
Finally, my name is James Gault and I have written four novels and also some English language textbooks.
James: Welcome, panel. The question for today is this: When we are in front of a blank piece of paper, or more likely nowadays an empty computer screen, how do we ever manage to fill it up? In other words, how do we find a plot and how do we fill it with characters? Let’s start with plots. Kyrian, where do your stories come from?
Kyrian: There is inspiration everywhere. Whatever I write stems from something I'd witnessed, and my imagination takes over from there. Being inspired, for me, is the easy part. The hard part is putting it all together for maximum effect.
Elizabeth: The contemporary timeline for my tales takes place in the fictional English village of Fossbury, which is based on the real-life village of Ettington, outside historic Stratford-upon-Avon. It is an area steeped in history, especially all the Shakespearean associations, so it becomes very difficult, therefore, to choose an appropriate historical narrative to match with the modern romantic plot, purely because there are so many. However, after reading lots of books on folklore in the library, there is usually one snippet of an idea that stands out and nags away in my head. Then I know that's the one I have to write about.
James: I find these two quite different responses interesting. Kyrian seems to have a very wide-ranging approach to finding ideas, while Elizabeth does a lot of research, with a much more focussed approach. What about the others? Are you a brainstormer or a researcher when you’re looking for a plot?
Ted: My plots come from snippets of conversation within an existing story of my own: Where did X’s brother go … he got mentioned once, what is his story? I also use snippets from conversation in real life, so I always carry a notebook and pencil. And the really important one ... Never hearing the ends of radio-plays and stories while I worked as a Medical Sales Rep, in and out of the car, so I had to fill them in for myself.
Sally: As I write contemporary fiction, I get a lot of my ideas from news stories, either current or fairly recent events. For instance, three stories from this week's news will be incorporated into my WIP. I also research old news stories [and change the names of those involved of course] and incorporate these where needed in a particular storyline.
Cherise: The ideas for my books come from the issues that entrepreneurs are experiencing as they journey toward their success.
Richard: I guess I’ve been carrying around a lot of unwritten stories in my head over the years and I’ve now found the time to get them set down. I tend to write about WW2 because I lived through that war and have strong childhood memories of it. There again my latest novel is a psycho-thriller set in America in 2011 and that was inspired by a spooky photo I came across last year.
James: Richard already seems to have all the plots he could ever use. Lucky man! It seems that like Kyrian, Ted and Sally cast their nets widely in the search for stories, while Cherise and Elizabeth are much more focussed, maybe because they have a very clear idea of the kind of books they want to write. But wherever you find the plots, they all need people to bring them alive, so where do you get your characters from?
Ted: I like to think that mine are pure imagination, the female characters must be! The male characters probably have lots of me in them. I try hard not to drop people I know, alone and naked into the middle of my weird world!
James: I wonder if all of you are so kind to your friends as Ted.
Richard: My characters are driven by the story and its needs. I only start out with one or two; the rest just come along and barge in, shouting and demanding to be heard. Inevitably there are shades of those I know or have known in some of the characters but I try to keep them veiled.
James: I suppose in a sense all characters are there to serve the plot, unless it’s the other way round.
Sally: Sometimes my characters are taken from real life, sometimes based on family members or friends. But some are from pure imagination.
James: Here’s something that has always intrigued me; if you base a character on people you know, do they ever recognise themselves? Elizabeth, do you put people you know in your books?
Elizabeth: No. Each of my strong female characters have become people in their own right, really, although I think it's fair to say that they started life as an extension of different aspects of my own personality. I believe it's rather common, for writers of a series especially, that their characters blossom into much more than they perceived possible at the start of the exercise. I also spend a lot of time watching other people - sometimes it can be something as innocent as the way they flick their hair that will find its way into the story somehow. You just never know how the process is going to develop, sometimes...
Kyrian: Each of my characters can be based on one person or more than one person. I've known these people at some point in time. But, again, they provide a foundation, and my imagination will take over over, possibly embellishing to varying degrees. There are a few that were perfect to write about without changing them a bit. I'm at a point now where I also create characters from scratch, inventing their back-stories and everything else. Such fun stuff!
James: So there we are, everyone has their own way of ‘getting’ their characters. They can be based on one real person, who might well be the author. They can be an amalgamation of several people, or even entirely a work of imagination. But, as Kyrian and Elizabeth pointed out, inspiration is only the spark that’s sets the writer off. It has to be followed by a lot of work to turn the skeleton of a plot and the outline of its characters into a novel, or even a short story or a novella.
A big thanks to all our contributors for their ideas. If you want to know more about the authors who took part, see their books opposite and below, and click on their book covers to find out more. Until next time!
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