Inspiration

When I was younger and first began writing, I was inspired by what I read. I read a lot of books written by authors like Jacqueline Wilson and Sarra Manning. While reading their books I would get ideas from the plots, settings and characters and use them to develop my own writing. Now I’m quite a lot older, my writing isn’t really inspired by things I read although the way things are written still gives me inspiration. For example, Cecelia Ahern’s style of writing is something that I’m influenced by.

I think my writing is mainly inspired by things I have experienced and places I have been. For example, I have been to a lot of music concerts and theatre productions and they often inspire me to write about them. I’m also inspired by places I’ve been on holiday such as Scotland, Spain, The Czech Republic, Ireland and America. These places usually inspire the settings and locations for stories I write. I find it much easier to write about things I know, rather than completely relying on my imagination. Having said that, if it wasn’t for my imagination everything I write would probably be very boring. I suppose I am influenced and inspired by everything that is happening around me, whether I notice it or not.

Should A Writer Be Invisible?

I think nowadays, it’s quite impossible for a writer to be invisible. Years ago it was easy to be invisible, especially for anonymous writers or writers under different names. For example, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published anonymously and the Brontë sisters wrote Jayne Eyre and Wuthering Heights under the names Ellis Bell and Currer Bell. This was mainly because females couldn't be taken seriously as writers and were discriminated. In the case of writers like Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters, it was probably a good thing to be invisible because if they were not, their work may not have been published.

These days, it’s rare for writers to stay out of the media and public eye. It’s very easy for people to find out all sorts about their favourite authors and they will often read multiple books by the same author. J.K Rowling is a great example of this, after her huge success with the Harry Potter series, her next book The Casual Vacancy was published. Readers of the Harry Potter series would most likely have read this book without considering its contents, just because J.K Rowling wrote it.

Some writers choose to be invisible as they want their work to remain personal. Emily Dickinson felt strongly against having her work published, believing it was for her eyes only and wanted them kept out of the public. When her poems were published however, she became very well-known and successful and she carried on to be over a century after her death.

A piece of work can be very personal and something like this should not be shared with others unless the writer desires to. A piece of work can also be life changing for some writers; their work can impact the lives of their readers and they can find great fame and success. In summary, I think a writer should write for who they like whether it be themselves or others and it should be their own decision whether or not to be invisible.

Did Emily Dickinson write about the war? Does it matter?

When looking through Dickinson’s poems I find it quite hard to tell if she’s writing about the war. Some are more obvious than others, but quite a lot of her poems certainly have suggestions of war.

In Poem 596 as Dickinson uses war-related words such as ‘victory’, ‘bullets’, ‘imperial conduct’ and ‘braveries’. If it were not for these words I wouldn't have known the poem was about war. In poem 656, Dickinson constantly writes about blood and death. As well as mentioning the actual word ‘blood’, she also uses words such as ‘artery’, ‘vein’, ‘shower of stain’, ‘scarlet rain’, ‘ruddy pools’ and ‘vermilion’. Although war is not the only aspect connected to blood and death, we can assume that this poem was written about the war because of the time it was written. Also, as Emily Dickinson isolated herself and as a woman could not fight in the war, there was no way she could have known what it was like, other than what was in the media at the time. Like most people, possibly the first thing that came to Dickinson’s mind when thinking about the war was death and blood. This shows that poem 656 must be about the war.

Does it matter that Emily Dickinson wrote about the war? I think it does, especially to Dickinson herself. As we can tell by reading her poems, she was emotionally affected by the war.  I think it is important for people to express their feelings in any way possible; in Dickinson’s case it is poetry.

What makes John Cheever's stories uniquely American and what makes a story uniquely British?

The settings of John Cheever’s stories are the most obvious thing that makes his stories uniquely American. In The Swimmer, the main character decides to swim in every pool in the county on his way home. The fact that every house seems to have a swimming pool in their back garden is something that could be seen as uniquely American. Although many homes in Britain may have pools, it’s unusual for every home to have one. Having said that, many places in hot countries, such as Spain, have neighbourhoods with pools in every back garden so maybe this is not uniquely American.

Something that is uniquely American however is Cheever’s references to the Great Depression and the American Dream. Many of the characters in his stories seem to be influenced by the American Dream or it has affected their lives in some way and as Cheever grew up during the Great Depression, it is understandable that it features in many of his stories. As well as these, uniquely American features such as family values and capitalism are involved in Cheever’s stories.

When I think about what makes a story uniquely British, I think of stories such as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. These stories are all tales of somewhat forbidden romance and are set in England. I think classic romance is something that makes a story uniquely British and obviously the setting. Although saying this, Britain is not just England.

In my opinion, what makes a story unique is not it’s nationality but rather the writers themselves.

Where does my writing come from?

I have lived in the same place all my life. I was born in Winchester and live in a village near Eastleigh. I have never lived or spent an exceedingly long amount of time anywhere else other than Hampshire. In my spare time, I mostly read books written by Cecelia Ahern and occasionally thrillers such as Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson.

Living in Hampshire has had an impact on my writing as I write about what I know and have seen; it would be pointless to write about events I know nothing about, which happened in somewhere I have never been. It definitely wouldn't be believable. I have also visited other cities and traveled to various countries which has enabled my writing to become more interesting. The books I have read haven’t affected my writing to much extent but they have inspired me to think of creative plots and characters when I write fiction.

Most of what I write comes from the things I have experienced mixed with my imagination, rather than where I live and what I have read. Similarly, Amy Lowell described that the poet Emily Dickinson was ‘sinking under the weight of an introverted imagination’, maybe as a result of her decision to isolate herself, which is clearly shown in her writing. Perhaps where she was from and what she had read were not relevant to her writing in this time of her life.

In the end, I suppose my writing would be rather dull if it wasn't for my imagination and the things I have experienced throughout my life, whether they have happened where I live or during the times I have spent away from home.

How is it that I became a writer?

I have never really considered myself to be a Writer. I don’t think I will, until I have written something that I think is worth other people reading. I have always written for myself and I have considered it a hobby.

In Negotiating with the Dead, Margaret Atwood mentions that a good many writers have had storytellers in their lives. This is how I was introduced to stories as a child. My grandad told me all kinds of stories and as I grew older, I told these stories and some of my own to my younger sister.

Writing stories, rather than telling them, is something I became interested in as I grew older. As a child, my favourite author was Jacqueline Wilson. After reading her stories, I began to write my own. At first, they were close imitations of Wilson’s stories. I’d changed the names of the characters and their appearances but the plots were very similar. After a while, I eventually began to create my own ideas for stories.

It wasn’t until I began my classes at college that I became interested in other types of writing, besides fiction. We were required to write reviews and magazine articles in one class which I enjoy writing today. Now in university, my interest in writing has become much more enthusiastic, as my course covers all kinds of writing. I think that in time, my writing will become something that I don’t just consider to be a hobby and something that I would be happy to share with others.