Writing for the Magazine, Lynne Truss has a confession: she has never been on the London Eye, yet chose to set a key scene there in one of her books. Does it matter?
She made it all up, you knowWhen Stef Penney won a major literary prize for a novel set in Canada, eyebrows were raised at the fact she had never been there. Some readers may have felt deceived, but best-selling author Lynne Truss argues such vivid imagination is the mark of a truly great writer.
It is time to make a confession. I once set the climactic scene of a dramatic monologue on the London Eye - without ever having travelled on it. Was that so very wrong of me?
It is time to make a confession. I once set the climactic scene of a dramatic monologue on the London Eye - without ever having travelled on it. Was that so very wrong of me?
If it was, I am in trouble, because I also once wrote a comic novel about a number of characters converging farcically on the town of Honiton, in Devon, without ever having been there; and, heavens, I once wrote a whole novel set in the 1860s without bothering to do any exploratory time-travelling.
If it was, I am in trouble, because I also once wrote a comic novel about a number of characters converging farcically on the town of Honiton, in Devon, without ever having been there; and, heavens, I once wrote a whole novel set in the 1860s without bothering to do any exploratory time-travelling.
And come to think of it, as a writer of drama and fiction I have created all sorts of characters who are not like me and who have not led the life I've led, some of whom are even of the opposite gender.
And come to think of it, as a writer of drama and fiction I have created all sorts of characters who are not like me and who have not led the life I've led, some of whom are even of the opposite gender.
Forgive the sarcastic tone, but I did find it bizarre that anyone should care whether the newly crowned Costa award winner Stef Penney had ever been to Canada when she wrote her excellent first novel, The Tenderness of Wolves.
She made it all up, you knowForgive the sarcastic tone, but I did find it bizarre that anyone should care whether the newly crowned Costa award winner Stef Penney had ever been to Canada when she wrote her excellent first novel, The Tenderness of Wolves.
It was quite a news story, apparently, although perhaps the main point of interest was that Penney had been suffering agoraphobia while working on the book (set in the 19th Century Canadian outback), so her illness would have prevented her from visiting Canada even if she'd wanted to.
It was quite a news story, apparently, although perhaps the main point of interest was that Penney had been suffering agoraphobia while working on the book (set in the 19th Century Canadian outback), so her illness would have prevented her from visiting Canada even if she'd wanted to.
Nevertheless, I wasted no time getting defensive. The thing is, we fiction writers are quite touchy when people fail to appreciate the supreme importance of imagination in our work. I love the idea of Penney constructing the landscape of her book from maps and records in the British Library. That was a true creative act. Any fool with a Visa card can buy a ticket and go to look at an expanse of snow.
Nevertheless, I wasted no time getting defensive. The thing is, we fiction writers are quite touchy when people fail to appreciate the supreme importance of imagination in our work. I love the idea of Penney constructing the landscape of her book from maps and records in the British Library. That was a true creative act. Any fool with a Visa card can buy a ticket and go to look at an expanse of snow.
Embellished memories
Embellished memories
At a time when memoirs are being attacked on grounds of literal truth, perhaps people are getting confused about what fiction is - and are therefore asking the wrong questions.
At a time when memoirs are being attacked on grounds of literal truth, perhaps people are getting confused about what fiction is - and are therefore asking the wrong questions.
"Did you talk to any men?" someone asked me when I had a series of male monologues broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005, and I am still so astonished by the stupidity of the question that I crack up laughing whenever I think of it.
"Did you talk to any men?" someone asked me when I had a series of male monologues broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005, and I am still so astonished by the stupidity of the question that I crack up laughing whenever I think of it.
It seems to me that "Did you talk to any men?" implies that
men are quite rare, and you can go your whole life not encountering one
in the natural course of things, I don't talk to anyone except in the cause of research
men have unique, specialist insight into other men
that chromosomes count for more in the creative process than imagination
It seems to me that "Did you talk to any men?" implies that
men are quite rare, and you can go your whole life not encountering one
in the natural course of things, I don't talk to anyone except in the cause of research
men have unique, specialist insight into other men
that chromosomes count for more in the creative process than imagination
I had invented six characters for my series, each with an individual biography, story, personality, outlook and voice. Yet, according to the "Did you talk to any men?" approach, it turns out that my milkman or the Prince of Wales was better equipped (purely by XY arrangement) to write my characters than I was.
I had invented six characters for my series, each with an individual biography, story, personality, outlook and voice. Yet, according to the "Did you talk to any men?" approach, it turns out that my milkman or the Prince of Wales was better equipped (purely by XY arrangement) to write my characters than I was.
Source material
Source material
I'm not saying that a writer is automatically disadvantaged by first-hand knowledge.
I'm not saying that a writer is automatically disadvantaged by first-hand knowledge.
Lynne Truss, best known for Eats, Shoots and LeavesWhen I wrote my novel Tennyson's Gift (about real people who lived at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight in the 1860s), I not only steeped myself in biographies, photographs and poetry; I wrote the whole book from a holiday flat overlooking the bay, feverishly imagining it 130 years previously.
Lynne Truss, best known for Eats, Shoots and LeavesWhen I wrote my novel Tennyson's Gift (about real people who lived at Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight in the 1860s), I not only steeped myself in biographies, photographs and poetry; I wrote the whole book from a holiday flat overlooking the bay, feverishly imagining it 130 years previously.
I therefore knew with certainty how long it took to get from one house to another; I knew the cliff walks and the tiny flowers, and I felt the full majesty of the wonderful view on a dazzling July afternoon. Such detail was important to the atmosphere and the plot of my novel, and I still love taking people to Freshwater and showing them where everything happens.
I therefore knew with certainty how long it took to get from one house to another; I knew the cliff walks and the tiny flowers, and I felt the full majesty of the wonderful view on a dazzling July afternoon. Such detail was important to the atmosphere and the plot of my novel, and I still love taking people to Freshwater and showing them where everything happens.
Yet, when it was necessary to change something for the sake of symbolism or plot, I did it. For example, I wanted Tennyson to have access to the spiral staircase from his study to the garden, even though it hadn't been installed in 1864. I wanted a rose garden to be positioned in a particular spot when there was no evidence for it.
Yet, when it was necessary to change something for the sake of symbolism or plot, I did it. For example, I wanted Tennyson to have access to the spiral staircase from his study to the garden, even though it hadn't been installed in 1864. I wanted a rose garden to be positioned in a particular spot when there was no evidence for it.
After a few sleepless nights, I granted myself liberty to tweak reality a bit. So guilty did I feel, incidentally, that I expected reviewers to pounce on these tiny points of inaccuracy, and was shocked when they wrote more along the lines of: "I had no idea these people lived on the Isle of Wight. Has she made this all up?"
After a few sleepless nights, I granted myself liberty to tweak reality a bit. So guilty did I feel, incidentally, that I expected reviewers to pounce on these tiny points of inaccuracy, and was shocked when they wrote more along the lines of: "I had no idea these people lived on the Isle of Wight. Has she made this all up?"
Lifting real life
Lifting real life
Personally, I'm always disappointed to learn that the story of a novel is literally true, or a character based on a real person. I feel the thing is thereby diminished.
Personally, I'm always disappointed to learn that the story of a novel is literally true, or a character based on a real person. I feel the thing is thereby diminished.
Fact or fiction? James Frey's memoir A Million Little Pieces is disputedYears ago, I interviewed an American playwright who gladly confessed that all the best bits in his play were simply lifted from life. During the interview, I would mention a line and he would exclaim: "My daughter actually said that!" - as if that was just marvellous. "That really happened!" he said, thumping the table with glee. My spirits drooped ever lower during our interview, as it became horribly clear that he had just strung together a few personal anecdotes, not written a play at all.
Fact or fiction? James Frey's memoir A Million Little Pieces is disputedYears ago, I interviewed an American playwright who gladly confessed that all the best bits in his play were simply lifted from life. During the interview, I would mention a line and he would exclaim: "My daughter actually said that!" - as if that was just marvellous. "That really happened!" he said, thumping the table with glee. My spirits drooped ever lower during our interview, as it became horribly clear that he had just strung together a few personal anecdotes, not written a play at all.
No, making it up is the point, really. And I have concrete evidence that people can tell the difference between the authentically invented, and the inauthentically factual.
No, making it up is the point, really. And I have concrete evidence that people can tell the difference between the authentically invented, and the inauthentically factual.
In one of my female monologues, a character says something pretty extraordinary: she explains that she stopped going to work because her hair wouldn't let her. She has very long hair, you see, which needs to dry naturally, and since this process takes at least four hours a day, there's basically no way she can hold down a full-time job.
In one of my female monologues, a character says something pretty extraordinary: she explains that she stopped going to work because her hair wouldn't let her. She has very long hair, you see, which needs to dry naturally, and since this process takes at least four hours a day, there's basically no way she can hold down a full-time job.
Well, you've guessed. This four-hours-a-day thing was something that had been said to me - but that's the reason I should never have included it. It clunked. It stood out. It failed to convince. The producer, the actress and everybody else said: "This hair-drying thing doesn't ring true, Lynne."
Well, you've guessed. This four-hours-a-day thing was something that had been said to me - but that's the reason I should never have included it. It clunked. It stood out. It failed to convince. The producer, the actress and everybody else said: "This hair-drying thing doesn't ring true, Lynne."
But like a fool I kept it in, just because it was really, really interesting, and had really, really happened.
But like a fool I kept it in, just because it was really, really interesting, and had really, really happened.
A Certain Age: 12 monologues from the radio series by Lynne Truss is published by Profile Books.
A Certain Age: 12 monologues from the radio series by Lynne Truss is published by Profile Books.
Add your comments on this story, using the form below.
Add your comments on this story, using the form below.
