I once saw an interview with a famous crime author whose main
character was a Chief Inspector. The interviewer asked if she’d had
to do much research into police procedures in order to write her stories. The
author – now an elderly woman – smiled with a glint and said, ‘No, not at all.
I made it all up. It’s fiction.’
Well how marvellous is that? How creatively freeing for the
writer is that? The author – who I can’t name because I can’t find the quote
online, I’ve probably paraphrased it a bit, and I don’t want to get sued –
reminds us that fiction is fiction. If it isn’t exactly right, it doesn’t
really matter. Does it?
Last week I wrote about the ethical questions surrounding
writing about a culture of which you don’t belong. And it seems that this is
when it does matter, when it
absolutely has to be right. Fiction is fiction, but misrepresenting the shared
experiences of others, feels wrong. Whenever cultural appropriation comes up in
conversation (like all the time, round my gaff) the only way it ever gets
accepted is when the research is rigorous and the writing excellent. Rigorous
research – that is what I have realised I need.
 |
| This is the place I picture for my rural setting. |
 |
| Shap, in Cumbria. |
For those who do not rote-learn these posts every week, let
me remind you. I am currently in the middle of the first draft of my next book.
It is a novel aimed at pre-teens, about a year in the life of an eleven year old
girl. All nice and relatable so far. I’ve been eleven. I’ve been a girl too, so
I can write those experiences with insight and wisdom. However, this is not
autobiographical. When it comes to starting high school, this character attends
a school very different from the one I did. After a house move, she is thrust
into a rural community and attends a tiny school in the middle of nowhere. The
culture shock of this informs her struggle to make friends and see the
positives in her new situation.
OK, so what? Well here’s the thing. I'm well into this story. I have happily typed away,
committing all kinds of fictional descriptions of her school to paper. It's got ten pupils, it takes place in one room in the village and the Year 7s are mixed in with the GCSE students. I've waffled on, all the while keeping my famous crime author's words in my head – It’s fiction! I’m making it up! – and
proceeding with little thought for the reality. But then. Then...
I was at a friend’s 40th recently when I got chatting to one of his mates. I’ve met him before, and knew he grew up in a rural community. I also vaguely remembered, from the last drunken convo I’d had with him years ago, that he’d been in a class of about four children when he was at school. I told him all about my book and the high school I’d made up.
I was at a friend’s 40th recently when I got chatting to one of his mates. I’ve met him before, and knew he grew up in a rural community. I also vaguely remembered, from the last drunken convo I’d had with him years ago, that he’d been in a class of about four children when he was at school. I told him all about my book and the high school I’d made up.
 |
| My notes. They don't depict the conversation in any way. Or any conversation for that matter. |
Yeah. So that’s when he told me. Apparently it’s the primary
schools that are tiny. Secondary schools are mostly secondary school sized. I
listened to him chat as the ‘No matter! It’s fiction!’ mentality gradually
drained away. He was a real person who had lived in the same sort of place I
was trying to depict. A place I’d never lived. Despite us both being bladdered,
he spent the next half hour talking about life in rural
Cumbria. I made some notes on my phone (mostly indecipherable the
next day - see what you think) but something clicked. I needed to find out this stuff for real and
to do it justice. Rigorous research and excellent writing. My new mantra.
Today I spent a chunk of time googling secondary schools. I
needed to find out facts to inform my fictional setting. I will still make
stuff up, (obvs) but knowing the truth will make the fiction that much better.
I found a school – pretty small for a secondary – in the same sort of location
as my book is set - so I’ve emailed them with a few questions. Knowing school
office managers as I do, this will be met with a loud ‘WTAF?’ and a vigorous
eye roll. (They really are busy people!) Hopefully someone will take pity on me
and give me the insight I need. For now, I’ll keep my new mantra of 'rigorous research' in my head,
and leave the ‘don’t worry, it’s fiction, any old shite will do!’ one alone for
a bit.
Have a lovely week, folks.
No comments:
Post a Comment