Emptying the Carrier Bag of my Life
and creating new Stories
‘Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works.’
Virginia Woolf
I have joked that when I start talking to someone, I can often end up ‘emptying the carrier bag of my life’ into their lap. Basically, I’m happy to talk about, well, anything really. If it’s to someone I know, that’s fairly normal human behaviour. If it’s someone I’ve just met, then it gets tricky.
Oversharing. The difficulty arises when I become that person who ‘overshares’. Which many of us are used to these days because of Facebook and other social media.
My oversharing tends to be in person, not on the internet, so if someone seems interested, I’ll tell them everything about myself — my childhood, my complicated family, my fallibilities, my biggest fears, my favourite films, my illnesses, my late-father’s illnesses and so on and on. Aah! Too much! It’s not a monologue. Though I admit it can start to look like that. Mainly because if someone asks a question, I will answer that and then elucidate further to ensure that what I’ve said was factually correct and makes perfect sense. I’d hate it if someone doesn’t realise it wasn’t me that got pregnant accidentally and then had to marry the father. That was someone else. But I won’t say who here, because that’s their story and not mine…
What I’ve realised about the Carrier Bag of My Life is that I don’t have to keep tipping it into other people’s laps, I can keep those stories for me to write! If you’re a writer that’s what you do.
So these days when people ask me, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ I will say, ‘From Life. Some of it mine, some of it other people’s, some of it entirely made up’.
Which is true. I also use things I’ve read about in newspapers and extract the kernel of that story. I change names, I change locations, I change lots of the specifics, but I keep the essential premise. And often that is a rather slight thing.
For example, ‘lonely people are vulnerable to crime’, or turn it on its head, ‘lonely people are vulnerable to committing crime’. Having seen the film ‘Joker’ (2019)I would definitely say that is an example of a lonely, vulnerable person turning to serious crime.
I have been writing a crime thriller and wondered if what I’d made up was complete nonsense. I did a few internet searches and discovered real news stories that fitted what I’d written! Which suggests that even when you aren’t looking for stories, just by living you imbibe what’s out there in the real world.
Some stories are just newer versions of old tropes — the rogue cop who works with the criminals he’s meant to be catching. This sort of thing has been going on since professional police were introduced into society. Ditto every other kind of cheat or liar who has been working in an important, professional role.
All of which is perfect for fiction. Not because all fiction is about crimes, but all fiction is about how a character interacts in a story universe and if that character is human, that means they will always have human foibles. Have a listen to ‘Ever fallen in love with someone who you shouldn’t have fallen in love with’ (The Buzzcocks, Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) 1978 and you will know exactly what I’m talking about!
