Fiction and Truth Reading as a Reader, Reading as a Writer

 I would point out that in the Iconic reading group teased me that I read these books as a writer, not purely as a reader.  This is evident here in this post, I think... I did protest to them that this was true. I am indeed a writer! 

Suite Francaise  - really a suite of two novels which might have grown been three -  was famously written by Irene Nemirovsky was what I was: a writer!during the German occupation of France  before her removal in 1942 to Auschwitz and ultimate death. The rediscovery and  publication  of the work sixty five years later is a story in itself.

Irene - already a well known writer - embarked on the novel in the rural  village of Issy-l'Eveque where she and her husband and two small daughters lived, having fled occupied Paris.

I have just finished writing my latest novel - to be called The Art of Retreating - partly set in Occupied France and partly in the present day, so had read dozens of scholarly histories,  factual anecdotal memoirs and factual personal stories to get inside the particular experience of one of the six  main characters -  the aged writer Francine Costington.

I  kept Suite Francaise - at the far side of my table -  to read after I had finished writing my own novel.  This was because,  being fiction, this novel is essentially a secondary source; secondary sources are normally weak and can lead to thin storytelling and unconscious imitation..

It turns out though that t Suite Francaise relates intensely ... Read on. 

Avril: Finding Your Story

All writers know about the search for story and for what it is we want to say. Sometimes this means digging deep, like Stephen King says to uncover the fossil – the story which is buried beneath the soil. Sometimes this digging is just that: the sheer hard work of writing itself, the pen in place of the spade. Write on, we say, and the story will emerge. But it doesn’t always work. We begin and then we get stuck. Some stories are just more stubborn than others. In my Spring Novel Group we seem to have done a fair bit of searching for our stories. Talking has helped, as has research and reading – but sometimes I think what works best is to take a fork and prod and shake the soil – mix things up a bit, change things round and see what emerges.

Here are seven ways to do that  –

7 Ways To Find Your Story

• ·      Change the names of your characters – this can dramatically change how you think of them and what they might do  
•     Change the location – make it entirely different – move them in time or place
• ·      Take a trip out – go look at something, go for a walk – let your story sit there quietly      at the back of your mind.
•     Read, watch films, talk to friends, talk to writing buddies – let your story breathe in the real world
•     Write a first person piece for your main characters – hear their voices, know who they are and what they want.
•     Ask what if? Pose lots of possibilities, the crazier the better.
•      Listen to the radio – I find so much inspiration here – use listen again on i player  -  listen to The Writing Game podcasts

Sometimes its just one thing, one small idea, event that will give you the key to finding your story -Oh and one more idea which sometimes works for me with half written short stories, try combining existing stories in some way and see where that takes you – GOOD LUCK!

All Change At Room To Write

There are changes here at Room To Write.

 For one thing, we've changed our name to Room To Write and Read because we have found consistently that those who write are great readers and that those who read share the values of most writers. After all where would a writer be without a reader? And where would a reader be without a good book to read?

So, we've decided that the website needed to reflect both aspects of this literary experience.

In the last two years Room To Write (and now Read) has become an open-ended, combined group of both writers and readers who return again and again to enjoy the experience and especially the sheer pleasure of the exciting world of words and books.

So our new intention is to build on all this on the new website, with books which our writers have published; reviews of books by our readers. Our rather grand ambition is to feature everything that celebrates the importance of writing and reading.

Our recent conference on Kindling highlighted the significance of the eBook revolution for both new and experienced writers. It introduced them to skills which would showcase their work and make it available out there in the literary world. Writers at the conference also learned how to prepare their work to create hard copy books using the print on demand process.

We hope you will join us here on our new website and be inspired - like our current writing and reading circle - in this creative empowering enterprise.

We'd love you to join in this adventure.

Happy Writing, Happy Reading!

Wendy, Avril and Gillian

Note: The painting heading this blog is a section from a painting of the Nineteenth Century Whitworth Hall by Spennymoor artist  Fiona Naughton who has also designed some book covers for us.