Authors Electric

How embarrassing. I was interviewed for a podcast in the US recently, and it quickly became apparent that my interviewer knew my books better than I did. Admittedly, the last book in the Divide trilogy was written twenty years ago, but nevertheless… I had to re-read all three books, to find out what happened to whom, and why. It was actually rather interesting, because it was like reading something someone else had written. I used to tell my students always to put something lengthy to one side and write something else before they went back and re-read what they’d written, as the time-lapse gave the reader some objectivity. I’m not sure I ever suggested leaving something for twenty years though! I had forgotten on whom I had based some of my characters. Some of the original inspirations had grown up, and become very different people. Others had died. Yet more rang no bells at all, and I had no idea what person inspired them – if anyone. Most people don’t recognise themselves, and it’s o...

Some characters seem to spring out of thin air, but others have a starting point with a real person. Eccentric people provide the best material – they’re more interesting, their reactions are more exaggerated, they often have a hobby or obsession that informs everything they do. Because of this warts-and-all element, you are unlikely to provide the most flattering of portrayals, and so a name-change is needed. You can, of course, go a lot further, and alter the age, gender and appearance as well. However, the person you know better than anyone else is, of course, yourself - so you use aspects of yourself quite a lot as well. I also think there’s a lot of acting in writing. I imagine myself as my characters, and try to see things from their point of view. This can suddenly give you a completely new insight into someone you thought you knew extremely well. It’s also true that when you know someone very well you tend to assume that the reader knows what they look like too, and it’s eas...