How Do You Think This Stuff Up?

To be a good writer you need to be an observer and a reader

Photo compiled by the author. Real people copyright: The Author .Additional images from Pixabay

People often ask me as a writer, “Where do you get your ideas from?” My partner taps the side of their head as if indicating someone who is slightly mad and says, “Up here.” That is essentially true, not the mad bit you understand, although there is some debate on that.

My answer is, “To be a good writer you need to be an observer and a reader.”

Observation

Having been a keen photographer and worked in people facing jobs for over forty years I have developed a natural ability to visually observe people; to watch the way they walk, talk and how their expressions change. One of my recent stories, New Balls, was inspired by the fleeting observation of a mature woman admiring a young man on a tennis court.

Observing is not just about watching. I am a naturally quiet person, but I listen. Everything from overheard fragments in coffee shops to lengthy conversations with friends provides material for stories. Many of my sexier stories, including The Muse and The Model, were inspired by conversations. It’s Hot In Here came from a piece on widows’ fire on Radio 4.

But then what about the sex scenes? Maybe I’ve just got a dirty mind (several of my close friends will verify that this is true and no, I’m not going to tell you what I have and have not tried). I am fortunate that I have met a lot of models and other people with a wide variety of fetishes and have listened to the interesting stories they tell about the feelings they stimulate.

Reading

Writers need to read - a lot. Not only to soak up other writers’ styles, but because there is nothing new or unique in storytelling. That does not mean we plagiarise other writers or even steal their ideas, but stories inspire stories, which in turn inspire other stories.

I have spent a lot of time reading ghost and folklore stories, especially those written in Victorian times. My original intention was to seed my mind with ideas. In The Wisp and The Hitchhiker I have taken elements from these and woven them into my own version (and, true to my style, added erotic elements). In The Justice Pool and There’s Monsters Out There I have created my own story in the style of some of the stories I read.

There was not much sex in mainstream Victorian stories. Pan was sanitized by Victorian writers, his phallus hidden as he romped through the woods. In Roman times he was depicted having sex with a goat. Midsummer in Panscombe draws inspiration from English folklore and older tales of Pan. It opens up the forbidden box of carnal lusts (there are no goats) that are only hinted at in stories written in more conservative times, so you will need to be a paid subscriber to read it in full.

Reading stories by Victorian writers had the unforeseen side effect of helping me with details of Victorian life, some of which I used in The Diary of A Victorian Disciplinarian.

Much of Victorian writing, even when written by women, is male-centred. Many feature the heroic man battling the unknown. In my stories the female characters often take centre stage and they are often told from the point of view of the ghost or supernatural entity. Her Room was inspired by a Victorian ghost story but I changed the main character to female, made her the supernatural focus of the story and, of course, added gratuitous amounts of sex.

All of the above takes time and effort. I have never been tempted to use AI to generate ideas for stories or to rewrite existing stories. Whatever you read by me comes direct from my mind. I do use Grammarly, but only for basic checks of my spelling and grammar, as it picks up things I have missed. I treat it like a Sat-Nav - I don’t always listen to it. I use Speechify to read my final edit to me (when you read out your own work you tend to auto-correct; Speechify reads exactly what you have written).

All the stories mentioned above are free to read unless otherwise stated.

The article below goes into a bit more detail and has recently been updated.