I began these Blogs to allow me to muse on why and how I write my books and plays and on this occasion I’ve been thinking about my characters.
I firmly believe that good stories start with people. Who they are, how they view the bit of the world they live in, how they react to other people, things that happen to them or things they do. For me it would be impossible to start a novel by thinking, “I’d like to write a book set in Hong Kong or the Scottish Highlands”. My characters might well end up somewhere like that, but that’s their decision.
No, I am not joking. I conceive the characters, understand their background, know what has brought them to this particular moment in time and then they will tell me where they need to be. However, while imagination is a vital part of character creation, setting those people somewhere I actually know adds a level of reality. It helps me to see them in that environment, hear the sounds around them, feel the atmosphere. For me that’s what makes it all believable.
In my novel “Dreams Of Eleven” a very tender moment takes place on the Lizard coast path in Cornwall. In “Hunting The Hornets” two of the characters encounter a marching band on the coast of Northern Spain. Then in “The Maybe Memories” collection there is a story set in a Mas – a traditional farmhouse in Provence – where I once stayed. These are all places and experiences I know but they are not my starting point. That will always be the people themselves.
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