The Writers Eye

Much is smoke and mirrors

Often in fiction a writer is portraying a completely inaccurate picture

So why is that worth saying, they are writing fiction after all

Well, we the reader read something we know nothing about by a writer who may know nothing about the activity they are writing about

Anyone who has read a portrayal of a job or activity they have been involved in knows this is often the case

The result, an alternative reality is set up

It may have some loose connections to how people actually live their lives, but that’s it

So, in watching films, TV, and reading fiction, our brains are almost drowned in a sea of fantasy and inaccuracy

When watching or reading pure, unfettered fantasy, or bad writing, we clearly understand this

But with good writing we find it much harder to distinguish between fantasy and plausible characters and events

But then perhaps we don’t want to

Take the espionage genre for example

I’m sure espionage in all its fictitious forms is much more interesting that the tedious reality

If I was asked to advise a young person who wanted to be a spy, I would advise, become a fictitious spy

Much more exciting with the added bonus that you cannot be killed, except in a literary sense

For detectives, most murders are sordid and desperate domestic affairs

Much better to get a posting in a fictitious village with a weekly workload of the most unlikely murderous exploits to untangle

So now, if I wanted to be an espionage writer what would I do

I have no direct experience, so this is my strategy

I read a few of the good espionage books

Invent some interesting characters, devise a plot and give it a twist

And no-one will know the difference

Of course, not quite as easy as that because it is the quality of the writing and the appeal to the public’s imagination that will sell it, that’s the hard bit

Knowing anything about espionage, don’t need it

So, have I have missed the point

Am I am stating the obvious

Just some thoughts blogged out on a Sunday morning

And there ends this blog...

P.S. I need to acknowledge that many writers do bring specific knowledge or experiences of events to their writing in a powerful fashion and authoritative fashion