Write what you know

They say you’re to write what you know. This advice applies to your feelings, not things that happened to you — otherwise, science fiction and fantasy would never have been written! Nevertheless, if you’re writing about an area, whether real or made up, it can help to get a feel for somewhere similar.

Sometimes, a change of scenery can even inspire you. I drove to the Norfolk coast last Tuesday for a change of scene. While driving through tunnels of trees, I realised that Gavin is going to take Teresa away for the weekend, staying in a cosy bed and breakfast on the Norfolk coast. As I drove through villages of chalk and flint buildings, I realised that he’d booked it for the same weekend as Teresa’s sister’s engagement party — deliberately.

Chalk-and-flint church in Mundesley, Norfolk

When I arrived at Mundesley, I walked south through the village and sat in a pub beer garden facing the beach and created a mind map of the beach and the village, what the senses perceived. Then I went for a chip butty and a cup of tea, and mind-mapped the café I was in. After buying a 99, I wandered north through the village.

Norfolk likes building things out of chalk and flint, especially Norman churches, with their square towers. In Mundesley, it seemed that most buildings were made of it. After looking at it so much, it began to make my eyes go funny. The main church was a little disappointing: it was indeed chalk and flint, but it had no square Norman tower.

After my walk, I sat on the cliff top facing the sea, and did some more mind-mapping. I’ll use these mind maps to create an impression of the village Gavin and Teresa stay in.