In my search for inspiration to write, I came across the BBC World Service World Bookclub podcast. What a find it has been.
The monthly series brings in very successful authors to talk about a book they have written, and the guests have included Umberto Eco (Name of the Rose), Michael Ondaatje (English Patient), Kathy Walker (The Colour Purple) and many other writers of similar stature.
The audience raises questions about their books and the motivations behind writing about certain subjects or characters. As an example, Edna O'Brien wrote a book called The Country Girls 48 years ago. Listening to this 79-year old author explaining what writing is about gives a fascinating insight into the process.
She talks about getting the details right. "You cannot write a book without knowing everything - how the carpet looks, what the leg of the table is like, the details of the person in front of the main character. You must have the reality in order to soar." Wow.
Edna continued about how the details and reality cover every kind of emotion. "Everything goes in. The good things, the little cruelties, and the awful things." I am especially fascinated by the phrase "little cruelties" - it's something I realised we regularly face. Our lives are only occasionally touched by real tragedy, but small pieces of meanness are a part of daily life.
Another question asked about the motivation behind her book. She answered "To re-live and, if possible, transmute the experiences of my life into something richer, and better, and funnier".
And she commented on what it is to be a writer. "Happy people don't write. The need to write, the time required for writing at the exclusion of all else, is not the occupation of a normal, sane person. It's not". I personally don't take that as meaning that I, as a writer, am insanely unhappy! But this explanation does touch on the fact that the harder experiences in life are often creative sources which force an outpouring through words, image or sound.
The program is not all serious, though. When Umberto Eco was asked what his motivation was for writing Name of the Rose, he answered "that is a difficult question. Because now I must remember all the other answers I have given to that question. And each time my answer has been different." And another writer, Armistead Maupin, said he felt life was made up of three basic elements. "Great Job, Great Home, Great Lover". He also asserted that to have all three at once, was a constant but impossible search!
I started listening to the program over a year ago, and it has been a major influence to follow my ambition of writing. What a dream it would be to appear on that show! One day...
