tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post738236574243161834..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Writers as Human Hoovers - Andrew CroftsKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33535466485513068642014-10-28T06:57:52.790+00:002014-10-28T06:57:52.790+00:00Most people want to talk -- to be taken seriously ...Most people want to talk -- to be taken seriously when they do. But to think of it as research (though I suppose it is) makes me a bit uncomfortable.<br /><br />And Jo is so right about cultural sensitivity. One of the earliest things I learned in Zimbabwe was the value of the silent question.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-18657941367531481222014-10-27T17:37:42.016+00:002014-10-27T17:37:42.016+00:00It's interesting how many of these questions a...It's interesting how many of these questions are culturally sensitive. In Nepal and India nobody thinks twice of asking me how much money I earn, how much the trip costs, how I pay for this, that and the other. In England I cant imagine any stranger dropping that one on me!JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76937728669834512502014-10-27T11:22:49.689+00:002014-10-27T11:22:49.689+00:00People tell me things as well. I've been on tr...People tell me things as well. I've been on train journeys and had people tell me their whole life stories. You're right - you only have to ask. Once, when I was doing an overnight B & B after a writing workshop, my landlady told me a story of something so appalling that had happened in her family (involving a quite extraordinary marital deception) that I mentally filed it away for future use, but I've never dared to use it. I do, however, get a lot of my material from sitting quietly and listening at village events, parties and so on. Mind you, I have also had the slightly disturbing experience of finding myself thinly disguised in somebody else's novel. And no, I'm not saying who wrote it or when!Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29191280979153188432014-10-27T10:26:17.783+00:002014-10-27T10:26:17.783+00:00I am terrified of asking questions. To quote the J...I am terrified of asking questions. To quote the John Cleese character in 'A Fish Called Wanda', I don't want to ask, for instance, 'Do you have children?' to be told, 'I did, but they all burned to death on Wednesday.' I have that very British affliction of crippling embarrassment.<br /><br />I'll answer any question I'm asked - I may lie through my teeth, but sounds will come out - but I never know how to reciprocate with questions. I feel, probably wrongly, that if anyone wants to tell me something they'll just tell me. So I probably come across as rude and uninterested.<br /><br />I guess that's why people talk about the weather. It's possibly the only non-controversial topic.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-13015125891821968932014-10-27T10:02:30.934+00:002014-10-27T10:02:30.934+00:00People will talk about themselves in surprisingly ...People will talk about themselves in surprisingly intimate detail to a total stranger - I learned the technique of listening simply by growing up in north east England, where people tell you their stories at bus stops and in queues and on trains. I find the same thing happens in London and pretty much anywhere, I only have to ask one question or even just show an interest (and I am genuinely interested, at least to start with!) and then respond to what they say and it all comes out! When I was a teacher, parents on parent's evenings would tell me hair-raising sex stuff and medical stuff without any inhibitions! Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-63140207657077787032014-10-27T06:53:51.318+00:002014-10-27T06:53:51.318+00:00Oh. So that's how you do it ... small talk has...Oh. So that's how you do it ... small talk has always been such a mystery to me!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.com