FROM THE OUTSIDE TO WITHIN

In a previous post, I discussed how my writing has changed me more than how I have changed as a writer. The act of creation, in any art form, is deeply personal and forces an individual to look inside. Another way of looking at this, however, is by examining what is it from life that I have taken and used in my writing.

I’ve always joked that over forty years in customer service drove me to writing crime fiction. While that may not be entirely true, it is gratifying to fashion a character from a customer, client, guest, or even co-worker, especially if that character is the victim of a murder. Mind you, the individual in question has never been personally harmed or even threatened. But from a literary sense, they are removed from my mind.

Writing historical fiction, specifically that which takes place where you live, gives you a reason to research buildings and people, and events that were significantly before your time. This results in a greater appreciation for your own community. After all, life existed before your presence. What was it like?

That being said, there is not any specific way to recreate current events in a time period without the technology of today. When I write of a policeman investigating a serious of murders in 1938, I can’t call it a ‘serial murder’ or that the policeman is ‘profiling’ because those expressions didn’t exist until the 1970s. However, if the headlines talk of greedy businessmen or corrupt politicians, there are analogies from throughout the centuries.

Despite my passion for cooking and baking, I have never created a character who fits comfortably in a kitchen. Food and restaurants have been mentioned but not to any great extent. For me, the act of assembling disparate items and crafting a complete whole is a parallel concept in both writing and cooking, not necessarily to be used within a story.

I suppose attitude and opinion is the most prominent aspect of the outside world that I have used within my writing. There is definitely a separation between myself and my main characters but just enough similarities to allow me to infuse a sense of self within them. Perhaps it is a reciprocal arrangement as I wait in return for their response.