Liam Livings
Twitter
  • Home
  • Books
    • Kieran series >
      • Kieran's Out
      • Kieran's Pride
      • Kieran's Prince
    • Kev Series >
      • Adventures in Dating...in Heels
      • Rocky Road of Love...In Heels
      • Kicking Up My Heels...in Heels
    • Regiment of Majestic Gays Series >
      • The Regiment of Majestic Gays
      • I Should Be So Lucky
      • Say You'll Be Mine
      • Don't You Want Me
    • Christmas Books >
      • Plus One Christmas Elf
      • Coincidental Christmas Boyfriend
      • Bear Best Friend
      • Mistletoe Kisses
      • A New Life For Christmas
      • Silver Daddy Jingle Bells
    • Standalones >
      • And Then That Happened
      • Wrong Room, Right Guy
      • The Guardian Angel
      • The Player and the Geek
      • The Journalist and the Dancer
      • Unlocking the Doctor's Heart
      • Guarding the Prince
      • Wild for You
      • Love on the Dancefloor
      • Finding Home
      • Perfect Catch
      • The Trouble With Rent Boys
      • When Robbo Met Daniel
    • Non-Fiction >
      • Marketing the Romance
  • Contact
  • GHOSTWRITING SERVICES
  • Liam's Lovely News

The World is a Wonderland and you are Alice - advice for writers

25/6/2013

2 Comments

 
Mansoura Ez Eldin was IPAF-shortlisted for her “Beyond Paradise” said: ‘Being a writer means that you should always live with your eyes open wide to all the tiny details around you. Everything you see, every person you meet, every tiny detail could be a treasure for your writing. The world is a wonderland and you are Alice.’

Picture
Alice in her wonderland (Jessie Willcox Smith)
I really like Eldin’s wonderland advice because it pretty much sums up how I approach life. I may overhear a conversation on a train, a story from a friend, or someone I meet. I just use what’s all around me, every day as a ‘treasure’ for my writing. 

One of the most important tools writers have is our eyes and ears, to take in the world around us, down to the tiniest little details. 

I’ve found this approach has helped me through difficult times, because no matter how miserable, stressed, or unbearable something is, at the back of my mind, I’m always thinking, ‘I’ll get a good character or story out of this.’

Someone once said if my house burned down, I’d get out, stand on the pavement with a note pad and pen and just observe what happened all around me, how I felt, what others did, carefully writing it down.

I love to notice people’s speech patterns, to really listen to how they speak, what phrases they like to use. I noticed a colleague started every sentence with, ‘I don’t know, but...’ and then went on to say something she really did know very well every time. Or how about someone who constantly boasts they ‘don’t do...’ before being shown to do quite the opposite?

I may not use that actual phrase, but it conjures up some other character traits which I can quite easily form into a character, a bit more imagination and I’ve got a ‘what if’ scenario, or a problem, and then an idea for a story.

A friend told me about a boss he’d had, and described their one to ones – a time where they should discuss his personal development, issues with work etc. He explained, ‘They were just ones.’ I asked what he meant. The boss monopolised the time and only spoke about himself, his children, his weekend, his lunch, anything really, except what a one to one was for. My friend watched their precious time tick away, all his unanswered questions remaining on his pad, unanswered, until the next ‘one’ the following month.

Someone else told me about her leaving do: after some years at this organisation, her boss spoke at her leaving do for fifteen minutes. So far so ordinary. But the boss didn’t talk about her, and her contribution to the company, oh no, the boss talked about himself. Yes, that’s right, fifteen minutes all about himself, what he thought when he first met my friend; the different jobs he’d done at the organisation; the career path he’d taken to get to the job etc.

Things like these may become the start of a scene I’m writing, or they could be a shortcut to summarise the character I’m developing. However I use them, they’re all around me, every day, all the time, you just have to watch and listen for them every hour of every day, and subtly make a note of it for later use.

What use do you make of the world around you? Do you have details from life you’ve used in your writing? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time

Liam xx

2 Comments
Elin
9/4/2014 09:20:23 pm

I do up to a point. I wrote mostly historicals so I have to pick and choose what I use. I don't think basic human nature has changed much over the centuries, but attitudes have and so has the opportunity to become informed about things. Taking a modern day conversation and transposing it to, say, a medieval setting has to be done with caution.
But I do get masses of ideas from things I handle at work. 19th century solicitors letters, wills, photographs. All very stimulating to a fertile imagination :)

Reply
Liam Livings
13/4/2014 07:54:56 pm

Hi Elin, that's a fair comment. Since I write contemporary, I hadn't thought about that before. What a rich seam at work with all those historical documents and artefacts! :-)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Liam Livings

    Gay romance & gay fiction author

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.